Happy Ending
by Loki Nishizaki
Summary: Forget about this one.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable Naruto characters, settings, etc. are the property of Masashi Kishimoto and Shueisha Inc. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

Prologue

'Twenty-five years…'

The Rokudaime Hokage sat in a secret chamber inside the Hokage Monument, looking over hurriedly scribbled plans and coded messages. The Cloud-Stone-Sound Union had bypassed all the traps and was due to arrive the next morning.

'I've been a ninja for twenty-five years and this is how it'll end… After everything we went through, everyone we've sacrificed, THIS is the end? Murdered, our lives stolen by that traitor? No, even if I die, it will not end like this.'

"Naruto-sensei? You're doing it again."

Uzumaki Naruto's eyes widened before he forced himself to calm down and the wild chakra receded, its pressure disappearing.

"Sorry Teishi, I know I shouldn't get angry but this whole situation…" apologized Naruto.

"You don't have to apologize to me sensei, I know what you mean."

Nishizaki Teishi observed Naruto from his position next to the concealed door. The poor lighting in the chamber made it hard to see anything other than the desk. From what he had observed so far, the situation was bleak.

"How bad is it?"

"…At this point, sending anyone out there would qualify as an SS rank mission."

"Is he that strong?"

"Orochimaru? No, I could kill him. The sharingan isn't enough to stop me, as Itachi and I demonstrated."

"Then why don't you…"

"If I leave Konoha will fall. You know that."

"But won't the armies dissolve with his death?"

"You're forgetting about the Cloud and the Stone. Puppets they may be, but even with Orochimaru gone they would still attack."

"What about our allies?"

"Ever since the Sand's annihilation…" Teishi noticed Naruto's eyes mutating as he said that. "…they're far too afraid to help."

"…So we're done?" whispered Teishi.

"Depends on what you mean by done."

"Huh?"

"Teishi, do you remember your theory about time travel."

"I guess… it was a while ago."

"I found those plans of yours. They're remarkably accurate, but you'd need an obscene amount of chakra for it. And if you were to change anything significant, you would cease to exist."

"I know, but what does that have to do with…"

"I found a way to make it work."

"! That's great! Now you can…" exclaimed Teishi.

"I won't be going."

"What! But…"

"But nothing. I have a secret mission specially prepared just for you. Do you accept it?" interrupted Naruto.

"Why don't you go?" protested Teishi.

"Because I am the Hokage." explained Naruto.

"But this is the only way to save the village!"

"I have a responsibility to the people of Konoha. Live or die, I will stand with them, to protect them all. And who knows? We might even win."

"But that won't matter if I go back! How am I supposed to go anyway? No one has that much chakra!" yelled Teishi.

"We do."

"…You mean…"

"We've already discussed it. We chose this as the best course of action."

"How will I keep on existing?"

"By adding another layer to the seal and mixing in some of my chakra, you can use our existence as an anchor. Basically you can go to any time period where both Kyuubi and I exist."

"What happens if you die?"

"…You will cease to exist."

"…"

"Nishizaki Teishi, age 23, apprentice to the Sixth Hokage, Konoha's top jounin and the greatest seal architect ever, will you put your very existence at risk and accept this mission?" asked Naruto.

Teishi stood in front of the desk with his eyes closed as his sensei looked at him with firm eyes and the mission scroll in his hand. It didn't take him long to decide.

Teishi opened his eyes. He reached towards his sensei's hand and took the scroll from it. He looked at it with uncertain eyes before he gently rolled it open. There was a single phrase.

_Infiltrate the chuunin examination and assassinate Orochimaru._

"Sensei… You're insane."

"I know. Will you do it?"

"Do I even have a choice? If I don't you'll never let me hear the end of it. I've never been able to change your mind about anything; I won't start doing it now."

"Good. We don't have much time, let's get started."


	2. Chapter 1

Anyway, after this I still have 1 prewritten chapter. So I'll probably post it soon. Thanks for the reviews everyone. Oh and uh... I don't own Metal Gear Solid.

Chapter 1

It was a beautiful morning in Fire Country, it had rained during the night and the air held a truly wonderful smell. The birds were singing and the sun made the water droplets shine. However, in a forest clearing a dozen miles away from Konoha, vegetation was being consumed around a certain point. The decay spread out like a disease in a circular pattern. The dirt remaining solidified into matter resembling rock but white in color. After the phenomenon spread out to a diameter of around a dozen feet, seal script materialized on the surface. The ink danced around in no describable pattern and rearranged itself so that the script formed a nine lined spiral emerging from a circle. The circle then turned blood red and the color spread out in waves on the remaining script. The lines' color continued alternating between red and black, until the final wave maintained the color to red.

The mineral in proximity of the seal mutated to its opposite color, and the center became a hole in space-time. Suddenly, the decay spread out and everything connected to the earth was consumed. Trees became dry and brittle before mutating into the same white rock as the ground under it, its leaves simply dissipating. Insects were absorbed into the substance and the puddles of water became reeking brown gunk. A hooded figure emerged hurriedly from the tear, kneeled on the ground next to it and performed 6 series of 6 seal sequences containing 6 distinct handseals. After pouring the manipulated chakra into the seal, the tear ceased existing and the corruption stopped progressing. But the scenery remained as it was.

The figure shakily got up and sadly looked at its surroundings. 'The beast said that there would be a price to pay, but I didn't think it would be this… All life has been eradicated. This is a dead place, never to be revived… a petrified forest.'

The figure shook its head and determinedly walked away from the point of insertion. 'All the more reason why I must not fail, we have sacrificed too much for this to end like this. I've got to get out of here; Anbu squads are probably already half way here. This could be my only chance at entering undetected. Konoha's defense at this point in time should be higher than norm, and the reduced number of Anbu should make my entrance far easier.'

The figure finally reached uncorrupted trees and took to tree leaping as he contemplated his upcoming moves. He had to stop moving and hide his form in the surrounding trees three times to avoid being detected by approaching Anbu.

'I should have around four opportunity windows to take down Orochimaru, once during the second test, again during the month long hiatus, during the invasion and right after the Third seals his arms away. Since I don't know if I can take him yet, I should probably do it when he attacks the Third. Hokage-sama mentioned that in the reports of the battle, there was a four man barrier that separated them from others but that shouldn't be a problem for me. All I'll need are the help of one or two Anbu and we'll rip a hole through that barrier like it was wet paper. I should have a day or two before the beginning of the chuunin examination; I'll take this time to prepare the seals.'

The man arrived at the edge of Konoha 20 minutes after his departure and pondered on the best way to enter. He quickly dismissed the idea of passing over the wall as the gate alone was twice as tall as the trees and he lacked the speed needed to climb it unseen. He sighed as he discovered that the only reasonable way to enter was by using the only gate in the village. He reached into an inner pocket and removed his authentic faked passport.

'I sincerely hope sensei knew what he was doing.'

The man leaped to the forest floor and approached the chuunin in charge of the gate. They exchanged a few pleasantries before he handed the nin his passport. Upon receiving it he examined it with great attention and used a jutsu to establish its authenticity. Once he got a favorable response, the nin nodded and gave the man's features one last look before he gave the man his passport back. The man smiled and silently thanked his teacher for making him a passport that could not be faked. This particular ninja only passport was to be appointed to people with the Hokage's blessing, as it requires a set of Hokage only jutsu and the chakra of the individual in question. This happens to be quite similar to the passport that two of the three sannin own. The reason for his earlier reluctance was that his sensei was known for his difficulties in using simple jutsu. Simply put, he sucked at them.

As he walked the streets of the village, the man was filled with wonder at seeing the village untouched by war. No craters, no stray kunai lodged in walls and no abandoned buildings. The man was overcome with emotion as he looked at the smiling storekeepers and when he saw children laughing.

'When's the last time I saw a child laugh? With the academy graduation age lowered to 8, parents spent all the time they could with their children before they went off to fight for the place they called home… Orochimaru, I swear you will never leave this village again.'

With his spirit surging with newfound hope, the man continued observing the sights Konoha had to offer. As he passed by a department store, he looked in the window and suddenly froze. As he approached to get a closer look, his mind filled with confusion. His eyes had found the calendar, particularly the year.

'What? May 1st of the 301st year of the chakra era… Th-That's a whole year before the date I was supposed to arrive!'

Before he could think on this disturbing revelation, he was interrupted by the sound of something falling through the air. His shinobi instincts screamed at him to dodge and he could do nothing but comply. Later, he would reason that the shock had fine-tuned his senses to the point of being able to single out the faint noise of a liquid's restricted movement out of the cacophony caused by the hustle and bustle of the morning activity. In other words, he dodged the water balloon, except it wasn't holding water. He stared for a few seconds at the large hot pink stain on the ground before lifting his head towards a nearby rooftop and locked eyes with a pair of vivid blue orbs, belonging to a little boy with bright hair and a symmetrical pair of three marks…

'HOLY CRAP! SENSEI?'

The man's eyes widened with shock and upon seeing the man's hesitation, the boy quickly departed, as he feared the man's retaliation. Seeing this, the man regained himself and proceeded to give chase. And so began a great chase, up and down rooftops, around merchants and through food carts they went, and still the man pursued the boy. He avoided the remaining balloons and random objects the boy picked up and still managed to keep pace. After avoiding a watermelon, he saw that the boy had entered a training center. Worried for the boy's safety, he redoubled his speed and used his skills to hide himself from sight. Further ahead, the boy known as Naruto panted as he leaned up against a tree. His white T-shirt and black pants were dirtied throughout the chase and his sandals were covered in orange bits from where he had crashed into a fruit cart.

"...**pant**... Wow, that guy ...**pant**... can't take a joke… I'll probably be safe here."

"Not quite, freak."

Naruto froze for half a second before shooting of away from the voice. However, he hadn't made it 3 steps before something grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him off the ground. As he was turned around, Naruto got his first good look of his assailant: A middle aged man with short shaggy brown hair and similar beard, wearing a Konoha forehead protector around his waist and a green vest, revealing his status as a chuunin. Relatively tall, his long limbs kept Naruto from reaching the man's body.

"I saw what you did, you little freak. It's high time for someone to teach you a proper lesson. Now don't worry, I won't hurt ya… too much. I wouldn't want Anbu on my case."

Ignoring Naruto's yells, the man smiled a crooked grin and cocked his fist…

"Let him go."

Both turned to face the newcomer, however only Naruto recognized him as the one who chased him through half the town.

"...Who the hell are you?" asked the chuunin.

The man responded with: "You have 10 seconds"

The chuunin replied with various threats as the countdown continued decreasing. When there were three seconds remaining, the man seemingly disappeared only to reappear next to the chuunin and deliver a devastating blow to the armpit of the arm that was holding Naruto. The chuunin then released Naruto and cried out in agony before being silenced by the man's hand striking hard against a point on the back of his neck. The chuunin then dropped to his knees before crumbling next to Naruto.

The man approached Naruto and asked: "You okay kid?"

To which Naruto fearfully responded: "Is he dead?"

The man laughed and told him that while the man would be out for a couple of hours and that he would probably have a huge headache when he awoke, he certainly wasn't dead.

"Why'd you attack before the countdown was over?" asked Naruto, a little scared.

"Because I am a ninja and ninjas work through deceit and trickery. If he actually expected me to wait until the end to attack, he's a pretty pathetic chuunin." answered the man as he looked over at the unconscious man.

Naruto looked at his savior and got his first good look of his features. The man was of medium height, had long brown hair tied into a braid, amber eyes and a soft face. In other words, he was a bishounen. Much to his disgust. He was currently wearing a brown traveling cloak over a orange T-shirt, black pants and black boots. Yes, his sensei had succeeded in corrupting future Konoha's youth and orange became the most popular color ever. Upon sighting the color, Naruto's opinion of the man raised several notches.

"I'm Nishizaki Teishi, what's your name boy?" asked Teishi, just in case there were two young blond boys with blue eyes and whisker marks in Konoha.

Once he heard the question, Naruto got up to his feet and said the same thing that he said to everyone else "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm going to be the best Hokage EVER!" Naruto awaited the usual disbelief, so he could contest it. It never came.

Teishi nodded with a smile and said "I believe you."

Naruto stared in disbelief. "Really?"

When the man nodded, Naruto's face filled with great brightness and he asked the man how he had done that to the chuunin.

"I can teach you, if you want." The words slipped out with no warning, and it was too late to take them back.

"REALLY!" Naruto jumped for joy and let out happy little screams. In front of such an assault, Teishi was completely powerless.

'How the hell did things get so screwed up? I was supposed to be incognito, but now he knows I'm here. Why'd I come so far back? I know there was a chance I could arrive a few days from the date, but a whole year?'

Teishi needed time to think, so he told Naruto to come back to this place tomorrow after he finished school. Naruto left talking about getting some celebratory ramen at Ichiraku.

For a few minutes, all was silent. Teishi then reached a conclusion, and he would only need to look at his mission scroll to confirm its accuracy. He reached inside the cloak, brought out a beige scroll and revealed its contents. Under the mission parameters, there was a section that wasn't visible before he left. It read like this:

_Dear Teishi, _

_I know you're confused, so I'll get straight to the point. I'm giving you an additional side-mission. You are to save Uchiha Sasuke and protect Haruno Sakura. That's it. You may wonder why I took such risks for personal reasons and I'll answer you with this: I am the Hokage but even the Hokage can be selfish sometimes. This is a personal request from me to you, you may decide not to do it but I shall be eternally grateful if you find it in your heart to fulfill your sensei's wishes. Thank you for everything Teishi, I will miss you greatly. _

_You friend, the rokudaime Uzumaki Naruto. _

Teishi shook and sadly whispered: "…Idiot, I'll be the one that misses you. If I succeed, you will cease existing; our universe will travel to the place where all destroyed dimensions that lose the right to exist go. It may be for the best, but you gave up everything to make sure Konoha wouldn't be destroyed."

Teishi set the scroll to ground and used a small fire jutsu to burn it.

"Goodbye my teacher, my mentor, my friend… my Hokage." said Teishi as he scattered the remaining ashes to the wind.

"I will make sure that this time; you'll get your happy ending."

* * *

Old man Sarutobi let out a frustrated groan and rubbed his forehead as he walked back to his office. He had been called away to examine the strange phenomenon that occurred recently. Near 13000 acres of forest (20 square miles) had been turned to stone. The catalyst seemed to be the most complicated seal arrangement he had ever laid eyes on. Even his most experienced ANBU couldn't even begin to determine its purpose. In the end, he had ordered the reproduction of the complex pattern and had the original destroyed. In the 10 hours since his seal specialists got a hold of it, the only fact they've uncovered was that you would need an ungodly amount of chakra to activate it. What worried Sarutobi was the fact that such a large mobilization of shinobi had gone completely unnoticed. Because only two species had the mental prowess required to use chakra. The humans trained in such arts are called shinobi and the few devils with that power are called the 9 great tailed demons. All are currently imprisoned. With the responsibility weighing heavily on his shoulders, the old man opened the door to his office and entered, only to stop after the second step.

"Come out, I know you're here."

A human shaped shadow moved from a dark corner into the Hokage's line of sight. The shadow faded away to reveal a young man of medium height, brown hair and no forehead protector in sight.

"…I must admit, I wasn't expecting you to detect me so fast." said the young man.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" demanded the Hokage as he subtly moved to a better attack position.

"Nishizaki Teishi. I've come because I need a favor from you Hokage-sama, and I had no desire to pass by your secretary." answered the young man with utmost respect.

"…What kind of favor? How did you even get in my village? You are not one of my shinobi." Sarutobi couldn't detect the slightest bit of malice from the individual facing him. That could mean one of three things: This ninja was a master at concealing his emotions, this ninja had no emotions or… this ninja had pure intentions.

Sarutobi's eyes were watching him closely while his mind was alert, looking for possible signs of genjutsu. Teishi gingerly reached inside his cloak, took out his passport and handed it to the old man, careful not to make any sudden movements.

As he examined the passport, Sarutobi's mind went to high speeds as he linked ideas.

"I will ask you three questions; your life will depend on your answers." Teishi's body went rigid before he nodded. 'This isn't good…'

"Did a Hokage give you this?" Teishi gave the affirmative.

"Was that Hokage alive when he did so?" Teishi nodded yes. 'Wait… what?'

"Do you have any relation with the seal that caused the forest's petrification?" He hesitated a little, but still answered yes.

Sarutobi fell silent for a few moments before his face brightened with a soft smile. "So Naruto actually managed to become Hokage…"

Teishi showed slight surprise and denied the statement before he was interrupted by the old man. "You can stop pretending, your actions gave me all the proof I needed. This passport uses techniques known only by the Hokage and I know what every Hokage's chakra feels like. The residual chakra I detected in this passport doesn't belong to any of them… I did detect familiar chakra; though the Kyuubi's rage isn't something I enjoyed familiarizing myself with. I also know enough about seals to figure out that what happened to the forest was just a side-effect. What I couldn't figure out was the seal's real purpose, but you seem to fit the bill. And another thing, for a ninja you're quite bad at hiding your feelings. I can read you like a book."

Silence reigned as the two men observed each other, each deep into their own thoughts.

"It's your fault you know, I can't bring myself to lie to a legend." said Teishi, quite annoyed… in appearance.

"Tell me, why are you here?" asked Sarutobi.

"I'll tell you all I can." 'Or rather, what I need you to know. Unfortunately, we are all pieces in a giant game of chess. Some of us are pawns, others rooks, knights and bishops. Naruto is the king and I am the first queen to come into play. I am the most powerful piece only because I hold the most information. However, no matter what happens you will always be a pawn. Your past with that man will only allow you to go forward… towards your death.'

"But after that I'll need to borrow Naruto for a few months." said Teishi.

Sarutobi took a good long hard look at Teishi before asking him why.

"…I need to bring him to Babylon."

* * *

Babylon. The capital of devils. This great city has been forever immortalized in a state of ruin since the very first war that involved shinobi. The souls that permeate the streets make the entire area feel oppressive to the extreme and can make most go mad. Even the strongest of will cannot stay in the miasma for long. Continuous exposure to it will bring out the inner devil. At most, humans can survive it with minimal effects for half an hour.

"Okay kid, you see that city over there?"

After Naruto nodded, Teishi continued with his instructions.

"You will need to go there, sleep and come back."

"…You mean to tell me we ran for three weeks just so I could come here? Oh wait wait, that's right, sleep here."

"Not here boy, in there. There's a difference."

"That's stupid. You haven't taught me anything. This was a huge waste of time." yelled Naruto as he headed back the way he came.

"So you're running away?"

With those softly spoken words, Naruto froze in his tracks.

"You'll never be Hokage if you can't obey orders."

With that sentence, Naruto turned back and looked at his teacher.

"There's a reason for everything I've done. If I thought it necessary for us to run here and only stop to eat, sleep and rest there's a reason for that." 'You're probably running on its chakra right about now.' "Sleeping in that place will be the greatest challenge you will ever have to face. I'm not going to lie to you, if you go in there you will see things about yourself you could not have imagined. You will lose something dear to you in there, but in exchange you will gain strength. Choose your path now."

Naruto and Teishi's eyes locked and Teishi could see determination glowing in Naruto's eyes. Naruto then walked past Teishi and said: "Just watch me, I'll pass your stupid test and then I'll make you teach me!"

Naruto took off running towards the city and Teishi sat down near a large tree. He pondered on his recent actions.

'Sensei, have I done the right thing? Your childhood… I've gone and killed it.'

* * *

When he entered the deserted town, he had felt nothing.

'Teishi-sensei's such an idiot, making me come to this creepy place.'

Creepy it was. From a city made of stone and marble, nothing remained. Most everything had been destroyed and only randomly sized piles of rubble covered the area. There were also some walls still left upright though worst of all were the remnants of battle. Rusted kunai and shuriken littered the ground and Naruto had a hard time avoiding them all. The marks left by jutsu were abundant as well; burn marks, water damage and fissures caused by earthquakes were painted across the city to form a picture of destruction.

After a fruitless search for a bed or something comfortable to sleep on, Naruto cleared an area from all weapons, checked for traps and upon finding none, laid down and promptly fell asleep.

Rage. The feeling hit him as soon as his mind left the realm of consciousness. All of a sudden, he hated everything. He hated the villagers for what they did to him; he hated the children because they didn't understand him and because they ostracized him. He hated the village because it had hurt him. He loathed the ninja because they had tried to stop him but above all, he abhorred that man, the foolish one that dealt with death, because he had taken away his freedom.

Naruto tried to remove whatever had invaded his psyche but his attempts were met with redoubled efforts from whatever source it came from. The struggle continued on for hours until Naruto felt his consciousness move from the darkness that encompassed him until he reached a corridor, a flooded corridor that had a certain red tinge to everything. He spent a few minutes mastering himself, before he started walking. It was at that point he realized he had a body in this place even though he was sure that this was not reality.

'Is this a dream? It sure doesn't feel like it. This place feels so real… but I know it isn't really.' shaking off questions on how exactly he knew this, he continued walking. The fact that the water wasn't flowing in any direction told him that he was either in a closed room or underground, a prank involving broken water pipes in lots of buildings taught him that. After several minutes and a thought questioning his chosen direction, Naruto finally arrived at his destination. In a huge room there was a cell that extended from one wall to the other. The problem was that the bars were too far apart, Naruto couldn't think of anything that couldn't just walk out of it. 'except maybe Chouji.'

There was no lost love between Naruto and many of his academy classmates.

'Hmm… I haven't seen them in a while, I wonder if they miss me?'

A sudden movement from inside the cage caused Naruto to focus exclusively on what he could perceive as he hadn't exactly expected anything to be in there.

When he first saw the red eyes, he could feel the earlier feelings of rage coming back with a vengeance. When the rest of the body came into view, Naruto could feel the rage coming from its soul. With its huge body, fangs, claws and tails, it was truly a horrifying sight.

"Why do you resist me?" said the beast with a booming voice, and Naruto could feel the waves caused by the voice on his legs.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this?" yelled Naruto, uncertain on whether the creature could hear him.

"Why do you not give in? I know you hate them. I can feel your anger." said the demon, ignoring Naruto.

"I… I don't hate…"

"Yes you do, do not lie to me. I know everything about you." interrupted the voice.

"Shut up! You know nothing about me and even less about them! They are good people, even if they hate me. I see it everywhere when they don't know I'm there." yelled out Naruto, in defense of the villagers.

"They hate you! You must get rid of them before they do you harm." said the voice, roaring in anger.

"Maybe they hate me now, but things are getting better! One day, they'll like me, I know they will. I won't give up! I'll never give up!"

As he screamed that out, red energy escaped from the demon's body as it screamed in pain and flew towards Naruto. When it made contact with him, Naruto screamed as well as blue colored energy burst from him and flew towards the beast. Screams were the only sounds heard as the demon's body morphed into something smaller. Smaller and smaller the demon became, until its screams resembled Naruto's. When the process stopped, Naruto fell to his knees, took a couple of deep breaths and looked at the beast. What met his eyes shocked him to no end. It was himself that his eyes had met. That version of his body had fox ears, red eyes, claws, fangs and multiple long tails, but it was still himself.

"What… What has happened to me?"

The fox-boy was staring at his body with shock on his face. He then looked around the cage and noticed an important detail. He walked towards the gate, walked between the bars and out of the cage.

* * *

The forest was silent, frozen in anticipation. The result of the battle that took place inside the body of an 11 year old boy would decide the flow of things for the next few centuries. A battle between good and evil, forgiveness and condemnation, love and hate. This battle had taken place once before in Teishi's memory with his sensei coming out with a radiant victory. However, Teishi was starting to have doubts. Rather severe doubts in fact, as he had essentially gambled the future of his village on belief, belief that Naruto's force of will was innate and not acquired. In truth, there was nothing he could do but wait as this was one battle that Naruto had to fight alone to win.

A few hours after Naruto left, Teishi started to nod off. The three week marathon had taken its toll on him and he desperately needed to rest. After a few minutes spent fighting off the siren's call, he gave up the fight and slumped against the tree trunk, falling asleep while keeping himself alert for intruders.

When Naruto arrived an hour later, he found Teishi still asleep. Even though he had lots of questions to ask his teacher, he opted to lie down next to him and enter the realm of sleep, with hope that this time he wouldn't be plagued with killer instinct.

As soon he determined that Naruto had fallen into slumber, Teishi opened his eyes. He moved closer to Naruto and lifted his white shirt from his stomach. What met his eyes made his spirits fly to great heights. The seal that was usually there had changed. It was the greatest sign that his gamble had worked and that Naruto had prevailed over the beast. The seal script that formed the outer part of the seal was still there but…

The spiral was gone.

Working quickly, Teishi took out a specially designed seal and stuck it in the middle of Naruto's seal. He then used a four handseal jutsu and poured the molded chakra into the seal.

And everything faded to black.

* * *

Fear, slight panic and heavy breathing. These three things always accompanied a visit to Naruto's inner sanctum (Even though there was no real air to breathe). This time was no different for Teishi as he appeared in the knee deep water of the secret place. He held himself up on the wall with his right hand so he could calm his spirit. His body was flicking in places and fading out at others like the reception of a bad TV. While it may have been easy for Naruto to manifest in this place, it was substantially harder for anyone else, especially those that the body determined as hostile. In fact, it was rather deadly.

After a few seconds of this, Teishi put all his weight on his legs and started walking to where he knew Naruto was right now. When he got close to his destination, he started to hear what sounded like a child yelling at himself. When he got even closer, he also started to hear sounds that usually accompanied a scuffle. Knowing what awaited him, he didn't bother to increase his pace.

"GET BACK IN THERE!" came one voice.

"NEVER!" came the same voice.

"OW! YOU BIT ME!"

"SO DID YOU!"

"NO I DIDN'T!"

"YES YOU DID!"

"I DID NOT!"

"DID TOO!"

And on and on they went. By the time Teishi arrived, they had 'fought' to a standstill. Both were laying in the water exhausted. (Is that really water? I thought it was Kyuubi's drool.) Teishi stopped a few feet behind them. They didn't notice him; probably because they were too busy glaring at each other. As he stood there, he thought to himself that this was the true beginning to everything.

'This is it, the game begins here. The king has been brought forth. As the piece with the most points by far(somewhere between 200 and infinity), it must be protected at all costs. The pawns(1) in this game are the twelve Konoha genin that took the chuunin exam together, or will take in any case. Those who along the way will become different pieces are not yet known, even though we need queens like nothing else. The other side has way too many, especially the interference team … made up of 9 queens with nine points each … Nara-san, if this were a real game it would be like a game played between children who don't know all the rules. Naruto isn't exactly a conventional king and we are not normal pieces. After all, we are ninja.' Teishi smiled a cool grin.

'We make our own rules.'

"Didn't you guys figure out that you could feel each other?"

* * *

'Sensei? How'd he get here? Maybe he can help me get rid of the clone-idiot.'

"Teishi-sensei, you're here! Help me get this guy back behind the gates" said Naruto as he got up and ran next to Teishi.

"That's not going to work Naruto; those gates can't hold him anymore."

"Then help me beat him up!"

"I'm not going to do anything to him Naruto." said my idiot sensei.

"Why the hell not? He tried to kill me!" yelled Naruto in defiance.

"I did no such thing." said the other Naruto in his defense.

"I don't believe you, but it doesn't matter. You couldn't have killed him even if you tried as your injuries would keep you from hurting him too much." said Teishi without turning to face him.

"What do you mean by that? Are you saying this boy could damage me?" responded the other.

"Not just that, I'm also saying that you would hurt yourself by hurting him." stated Teishi waiting for the other to get the point.

Much to his surprise, the one who first got what he meant was the Naruto in front of him.

"You mean … he's me?"

'! This can't be! Naruto's definitely not stupid, but he shouldn't have the knowledge required to make that connection in so little time. Damn it all to hell, I should've known there'd be some consequences to having the duality occur at such a young age, he hasn't had as much time to implant some aspects of his personality so more must've been lost during the process. He should still be himself, just not as much of himself when compared with what the ratio was when he underwent the event at 21. When it happened, they estimated the original Naruto's dominance in personality to 90 in Naruto and 70 in the other. This time around we have to lower the age factor, so the dominance ratio would probably lowered by 10. This is going to change things; Naruto won't be as merciful this time around.'

"? Sensei? Are you okay? You've been standing there for an awful long time…"

Suddenly, Teishi realized that he wasn't in the real world and that his thought process had been synchronized with Naruto's, meaning that time in this place was accelerated to that of their thinking speed. Basically, he wasn't thinking faster than his surroundings anymore, so that whole analysis he just made took 5 minutes instead of the usual 5 seconds.

"Uh yeah, I'm just fine Naruto." said Teishi before he turned to the other.

"So, you see? It would actually be a much better deal for you to just cooperate with Naruto… not that you have any other choice." said Teishi, smirking slightly.

The other didn't react, as he was too caught up in his own thoughts.

"What's your name anyway?" said Naruto before he approached the other.

That got a reaction.

"My name? It used to be Kyuubi… but I don't think that's me anymore. I have no name." said the other coldly staring at Naruto.

"…How 'bout Oturan?"

"…Oturan?"

"Your new name! Oturan, it's Naruto backwards. Otu for short, get it?"

"Otu…ran…" said Otu, as he tried out his new name. "…I like it."

"Great! Your new name is Uzumaki Oturan!"

"Uzumaki?" said Otu, startled.

"Of course! You're me but not really, so we're really kind of like family! So you're an Uzumaki too." said Naruto, with arms crossed and a huge grin.

Otu used his tails to slowly lift himself from the ground and approach Naruto.

"Thank you… brother." said Otu with a sincere smile.

Standing a few feet from both of them, Teishi pondered on this new development.

'Naruto learned a lot more than I expected from the merger. Oturan just revealed to him that he used to host the Kyuubi but Naruto didn't even twitch. He must've taken some of the demon's knowledge. But by the looks of it, I think he's going to be just fine. Looks like he's ready.'

"Naruto, Otu. It's time to start your training."

* * *


	3. Chapter 2

Well, this is the last prewritten chapter, after this it'll take me longer to update. Thanks for the reviews. By the way, I don't plan on stopping any time soon. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 2

He was almost there. After over a year spent traveling, running, hiding and fighting, he had almost made it back to Konoha. He'd been running for the past hour and the sun was only just beginning to peak over the mountains. He was only a few minutes away from the gates and that made him extremely wary.

'What is he waiting for? I know he's here somewhere…

**It's possible he decided not to attack. I didn't think he'd attack so close to Konoha anyway. **

You think so? Teishi's pretty crazy.

**That's true, but I doubt even he would enjoy fending off the ANBU that we'd attract. **

I hope so Otu… I think he was saving the worst for last.

**I think so too but we should be safe once we get inside the village, brother. So, what's our course of action? **

We locate the Hokage and get reinstated as an academy student. Once there we amaze the teachers with our mad skills and by next week we'll be genin. By next month we'll be chuunin and by the time I'm thirteen I'll be ANBU. Once there we amaze the captains with our mad skills and get promoted to jounin rank. Once we become jounin it'll just be a matter of time before the old man realizes how brilliant I am and challenges me to a duel. The winner of the duel will decide who will be Hokage. After a long and grueling battle, the Hokage will name me his successor at the tender age of 15. I will then proceed to being loved by the all the villagers and have my face carved into the monument. Oh yeah, somewhere in the middle of all that I'll kick Sasuke-teme's ass and get Sakura-chan to marry me.

**That's…… that's brilliant! **

Hehehehe… I know.

**Hmm… looks like we made it… and still no sign of Teishi… I thought for sure he would at least show himself. Any ideas Naruto? **

Meh, who cares? He'll come to us eventually. I want to be at the academy before noon.'

While Naruto and Otu were having their conversation, Naruto had arrived at the Konoha main gates. He approached the chuunin in charge of surveillance and handed him his Hokage-issued passport. This chuunin was too young to know about the beast so Naruto had little trouble entering the city. The chuunin followed the procedures needed to open the gate and Naruto was overwhelmed by a sense of contentment. This was the place he had spent the first 11 years of his life in, this was the place where all his dreams lay in, this was the place he was born … this was home.

Naruto, keeping out of sight of the general populace, silently observed Konoha's inhabitants as they went on with their daily lives. The commercial district had just opened its doors and mothers, bachelors and girlfriends alike were heading over to buy their weekly provisions. This was a sight for sore eyes as Naruto had eaten little prepared food this past year. Whatever animal and plants crossed his path made up his dinner. When he wandered over to the residential section of his village, he could hear children playing their silly games. This left him with a sense of regret, as he had never been able to play those games during his childhood.

'And I'm not a kid anymore. That time is over.

**What makes you say that? **

This past year, we've lived through a lot of pain. Teishi was right, that changed me. I'm not what I used to be… but I guess that's exactly what he was trying to do. Six months of MIST… Teishi wasn't pulling any punches, Otu.'

Extreme survival training. Otherwise known as MIssing-nin Simulation Training(MIST). It was originally implemented by Konoha's ANBU to increase the success of their hunter-nin division and the overall survival rate while being pursued by the enemy. Two groups, one of missing-nin and the other of hunter-nin are left in a training area for an undetermined amount of time. The goal is simple, the missing-nin must survive the hunter-nin's assaults and the hunter-nin have to eliminate the missing-nin. The official record for longest MIST session is 3 weeks, 2 days, 4 hours and 17 minutes.

'**Maybe so brother but they'll be plenty of time to think on this later. Right now we inform the Hokage of our return.**'

Reluctantly, Naruto left his vantage point and took off towards the Hokage Tower. Keeping to the shadows, rooftops and dark alleys, Naruto made his way through Konoha virtually undetected. Once he made it to the tower, he walked out of the alley he was in and entered the building. The secretary gave him a brief glance before returning to her paperwork. A second later she stopped and looked at him again to make sure that what she had seen was accurate and then began staring at him. After all, it wasn't everyday that a dirty child entered the Hokage tower wearing what could only be called rags. Naruto's white shirt had multiple tears and even more blood, dirt and grass stains. Furthermore, it appeared to have been sewn back together several times. The black pants were marginally better but still entered the rag category. All in all, Naruto looked like a street urchin.

"Umm…" Naruto hesitated, a little unnerved by her staring. "Could I see the Hokage, please?"

The secretary faltered, obviously not expecting the question. Naruto quickly continued, trying to stem off her upcoming rejection.

"I need to get reinstated as an academy student. You see, me and my sensei took a long training trip and we just got back and I need to tell the Hokage that we're back." Naruto said hurriedly.

"Are you Uzumaki Naruto?"

Surprised by the question, Naruto could only nod his head in agreement.

"Your sensei already talked to the Hokage, you are to join the class led by Umino Iruka. Your classmates will be the same ones that you had last year."

Shocked, Naruto could only nod in response.

"Your sensei told me to tell you not to show off and to not get into fights with the other students. And I suggest you hurry boy or you'll be late for your class." said the secretary.

Again, Naruto could only nod. That is, before his mind concentrated on what he had just heard and he ran out the door cursing his sensei.

"Jeez… children these days. No respect."

Outside the tower, Naruto was running as fast as his legs would carry him.

'Damn… when did Teishi get here? I was sure he was behind us.

**Who knows? He probably had a kage bunshin follow us around while he went on ahead. The sly bastard.**'

Naruto made it to the Konoha ninja academy and dashed through its clear halls and stairs. When he reached the third floor, he ran to his classroom and threw the door open.

The very next instant he had to duck to dodge the kick aimed at his face. He then rushed out of the constricted area into the larger space of the classroom. He had barely turned around before he was forced to avoid his assailant's fist. He took quick note of his opponent's attire: black full body suit and black face mask. From the body's build he knew it was a man. He wasn't able to tell the man's identity.

Suddenly there was no time to think, so he didn't. He didn't wonder why, where, when or how. His survival instincts, the very core of his being, took control before he really knew what was happening.

The fight's tempo went up as his opponent started using his feet in excess. Hook kick, crescent kick, axe kick. Duck, jump, sidestep. His attacker ceased holding back and incorporated his hands in his attack. Jab, hook, backfist, knee, spin kick. Block, BLOCK, stumble…

Naruto's loss of balance helped him dodge the backfist, but the following knee hit him in the side hard enough to crack a couple of ribs. The last kick threw him clear out the window. And it was not open.

While he was amidst the falling glass shards, Naruto analyzed the situation. The first aspect hit him immediately. The classroom he had just ejected was empty.

'…A trap…

**Well, I guess we know who we've been fighting… There's only one person who would go to such lengths just to catch us off guard.**'

Naruto turned in mid-air and landed on his feet as glass shards scattered around him. He rushed to the side to avoid the incoming knee.

"Sensei, I never thought you'd go so far just to ambush me. I guess it's my fault, after all you never told me we were done." said Naruto as a grin appeared on his face.

'Teishi' stood there and said nothing.

"When undercover, you must never reveal who you are even if your target successfully guesses your identity. A lack of a response will make the target begin to doubt his guess. Am I right sensei?"

Again, 'Teishi' stood unmoving and said nothing.

"While the target pays attention to you in an attempt to discover who you are, attack from behind with a shadow clone." said Naruto as he grabbed the clone behind him and grappled it to the ground, breaking its arm in the movement and forcing it to dispel.

"I know you too well sensei, you're gonna have to do better than that." Naruto then formed the only handseal required to use kage bunshin and used said technique. Immediately, eleven kage bunshin materialized around Naruto.

'Hey Otu, you wanna try the technique we've been working on?

**All right, it would be a great opportunity to test in out in battle. **

Good, remember not to use too much of the wild chakra.'

The Naruto squad prepared to engage the enemy.

"Get ready Teishi, because this time I plan to win!"

The Naruto's rushed Teishi in 4 groups of three and had him surrounded in a few seconds. A member of each group broke formation and attacked Teishi. After a while, Teishi had evaluated and adapted to Naruto's attack pattern. Apart from a few close calls he had no real trouble dodging Naruto's attacks… at least until two of the clone's eyes turned to a blood red color and the clone's attack pattern went under extreme changes. Teishi had moved to avoid what should've been a kick, instead he received haymaker to the face.

All movement ceased. Then in a flash, all the clones had once again surrounded Teishi.

Otu approached Teishi and spoke coldly "You are not my sensei. Tell me who you are or I will simply have to make you tell me."

The impostor shakily stood up and said nothing.

"Fine. Have it your way." replied Otu before he rushed the unknown nin.

His opponent quickly reached inside his utility pouch and drew a smoke bomb.

The remaining clones tried to stop him but it was too late. The nin broke the bomb open on the ground and enough smoke escaped to cover them all. When it cleared, the nin was gone.

The Naruto clones dissipated into smoke, leaving only Otu and Naruto in their place. Both stood in place with their eyes closed, listening to the wind. Then, at the same time, they opened their eyes, looked at each other and said:

"Got him."

The next instant they were gone.

* * *

Meanwhile in the Hokage Tower's underground. 

The Hokage's observation sphere was inserted in a special hole on a round table. The hole had special seals engraved that caused the ball's images to be redirected to a larger area. In other words it created a large hologram, a three dimensional picture. The hologram was currently following the actions of Naruto and Otu. In fact, the meeting itself was about the boy. The three men present at the meeting witnessed the events surrounding the boy from the time he first entered the village to his skirmish with his assailant.

"What is his mission?" asked the man who commanders Konoha's ANBU.

"He is to ambush academy student Uzumaki Naruto. He must inflict as much damage as possible. He must use no weapons whatsoever. He must retreat when Naruto lands his first blow. That's about it." answered the boy's tutor.

"Why are you doing this?" questioned the ANBU commander.

"Because this is his last test." responded Teishi.

"Didn't you put that boy through MIST? This is no different." said the commander.

"The test isn't over yet. This is just the lead-in; the real test will start in just a few minutes." Teishi said as a grim smile twisted his lips.

"What do you mean by that?" This question was asked by the only other man in the room: the Sandaime Hokage.

"The point of this exercise is to determine whether or not Naruto has homicidal tendencies. When Naruto enters the room, he'll be in a state of high adrenaline; therefore his response to stimuli will be mostly instinctual. When the ANBU I assigned this mission to enters the room, Naruto will be 8 to 10 steps behind him. When he enters the room, I will attack him with a kunai. His response to that situation will determine whether his training has altered his personality or not. Of course, to get accurate results I can't really take any steps to defend myself." explained Teishi.

"That's not really an accurate measurement, you're his sensei, he'll obviously recognize you and stop attacking." argued the ANBU Commander.

"No need to worry, I'll conceal myself. He won't recognize me." reassured Teishi.

"Hmm… One more thing, how do we know if the operation is a success or not? What's the maximum damage he can inflict before he fails?"

"Simple, if I'm still alive he passes the test." Teishi plainly told the Commander.

"What are your chances of survival? Mister…"

"Nishizaki Teishi and you are?"

"Gunshou Taiki, 5th generation ANBU commander." answered Gunshou with not a little pride in his voice.

"Well then Gunshou-san, I estimate my chances of survival would normally be near 98. However, given the circumstances and the fact that he will not know my identity, my survival rates are lowered to around 50."

"That low? Why go so far?" asked a surprised Gunshou.

Teishi stayed silent while he thought of his answer. Before he could answer, they were interrupted by the Hokage.

"Gunshou, your agent has just entered the building with Naruto not far behind."

'Well… let's see if you really managed to survive MIST unbroken… Naruto… Otu.'

Teishi stood from his seat and prepared for the final dice roll. Double or nothing.

"Oh yeah… one last thing Gunshou-san, I've thought about the question you asked me and it's quite simple really…"

Teishi turned and looked Gunshou Taiki, his expression soft and warm.

"I do it because I believe in him."

* * *

When his target had entered the Hokage tower, Naruto drew two possible conclusions from the act. Either the man hid in a place where an attack was impossible or… 

'…or that's his home base.

**It doesn't change anything. We're going after him either way. **

…It'd be stupid to go in without backup.

**However, as we are not on enemy territory, there shouldn't be any problem in following him. If he attacks us we will simply have to defend ourselves. **

…I bet you anything that Teishi's behind all this.

**…How can you bet against yourself? **

It's easy, all we need to do is choose an opposing side, and then wait. When the truth comes to light, so will the winner. Besides, technically I can't lose!

**Yeah, but you cannot win anything either. **

Tch… Otu, you're so negative.'

After his internal monologue, Naruto jumped out of the tree he was in and walked into the Hokage Tower.

Upon entering the door, Naruto's enhanced olfactory nerves immediately detected the presence of the man's scent. He was also able to discern the direction the man had taken. After confirming this fact, Naruto took a look around the office. He wasn't surprised to find that he was alone in it. The secretary was absent and there was no trace of the usual clients.

Ignoring the feeling of dread that was coursing through his body, Naruto kept his senses at maximum input while he was following his target. What he found wasn't reassuring, it wasn't reassuring at all.

'I can't sense anything… You try Otu.'

As the body's control switched between the personality patterns, the only physical change was that the eyes' color mutated into a frightening crimson. Otu attempted to detect another living being's presence, only to achieve the same results.

'**…Nothing.**

Damn… So this place is either empty… or is packed with enough seals to isolate every freaking room… have you noticed?

**How could I not? **

Yeah… They disinfected the building before the target arrived… He's the only thing I can smell.

**It seems as though sensei isn't behind this. This is far too… direct for him to have had a hand in it. **

I don't like this one bit. Want me to take control again? I know this makes you uncomfortable.

**…Alright.**'

Naruto's eyes shifted back to cerulean when he arrived at the basement. The basement's layout was one long spiraling corridor with doors only on the right side of it. The corridor was on a descending slope and was lit up by candles situated quite a few meters from one another. The entire area was quite dark and it was sending Naruto's leeriness to new heights.

Naruto was about to follow his target when he noticed that he could hear footsteps echoing from that direction. He then dashed in that direction as silently as possible.

When he arrived at his destination, his target had already entered. Before he could do more than take a step towards it, the door flung open with great force. Naruto jumped back at the first sign of movement, but the huge gust of wind that escaped from the room took him by surprise. It carried him to the corridor's wall and slammed him against it with great force. Having closed his eyes to protect them from the wind, he opened them when he impacted the wall only to find that he could not see anything.

'The candles!'

Indeed, the wind blast had blown out the candles and Naruto found himself in pitch black darkness. Naruto barely had the time to get back to his feet before he detected the sound of a moving body and of a blade parting the air. Quickly discerning its trajectory, he sidestepped out of its arc and used his right hand to grab his attacker's wrist. He then quickly positioned his left leg in front of the other's legs and grabbed his opponent's shoulder with his left hand. He then pulled his opponent's arm with his right hand and pushed forward and downward with his left.

The move sent his opponent face first towards the ground. Right before impact, Naruto pulled the man's right arm sharply up while pushing down on his shoulder. The slamming sound created by the meeting of the face and the floor masked the sound of the attacker's shoulder dislocating.

"Damn it, stop attacking me!"

Naruto's yell reverberated in the darkness, covering the sound of a kunai falling and becoming imbedded in the wooden floor.

"…Damn… That hurt…"

"Sensei….?" Naruto asks, his voice tainted with doubt.

Inside the room, Sarutobi moved in the darkness, using his memory to avoid various objects. Once he was near the door, he placed his hand on a specific spot and activated the seal.

Instantly, the various candles in the corridor and inside the room lit themselves and illuminated their immediate area.

"Naruto, I know you must have a lot of questions but we'll talk after getting your sensei to a hospital…He would probably appreciate it if you let go, Naruto-kun" said Sarutobi.

"Wha… Ahhh! I'm sorry!"

As Teishi lay on the ground with a concussion and a dislocated shoulder, he only had one thought.

'Looks like the game's going to go on for a while longer…that's good…'

* * *

"So you're telling me that you've been here since yesterday morning?" asked Naruto, highly incredulous. 

"Yep."

"Then…there was no one watching me?"

"I never said that."

"Who was it?" asked Naruto, highly curious.

Teishi hummed and struck a thinking pose. After a few seconds of this, he informed Naruto:

"None of your business. You weren't even supposed to know it was there."

"Are you saying it because it isn't human, or because you don't want me to know the person's gender?" asked Naruto, highly annoyed.

"You figure it out; I'm not saying another word."

"Tch. Fine, I don't even want to know." said Naruto as he turned away from his teacher.

Teishi and Naruto were walking in Konoha's streets. It's been an hour since Naruto completed his test. Konoha's streets had changed a lot since Naruto observed them earlier that morning. The reason was simple, that morning Naruto was hiding in alleys, now he was walking in plain sight. The whispers, the stares, the glares, the hate, the fear and the sadness were almost too much for Naruto to bear. He knew that their reaction was because of his long absence and that it would likely dim down in the next few days, but…

It still hurt.

After arriving at the hospital, Sarutobi had gotten a medic-nin to treat Teishi. This was a special case, as all non life-threatening injuries healed naturally to conserve chakra. While Teishi was getting healed, the old man had wandered off somewhere and Naruto was forced to take a bath. When he was clean, he found that his tattered clothes had disappeared and were replaced with a new outfit. He was now wearing a dark orange T-shirt with black spiral markings and some black knee length shorts. His old ninja sandals had been replaced with new ones. He barely had the time to put the clothes on before Teishi arrived and they left the hospital.

"Sensei, where'd the other guys go?" Naruto suddenly asked Teishi.

"What other guys?" replied Teishi.

"The man that was with you guys and the guy who attacked me." answered Naruto.

"There exist a couple of secret passageways in the tower, they left through there." replied Teishi, without the slightest hesitation. That only served to increase Naruto's suspicion.

'Something's definitely weird about Sensei… Who is he? He doesn't have a Konoha forehead protector…

**And yet he knows Konoha jutsu… and the Hokage. **

Something doesn't add up here. Don't you think someone should've recognized Teishi by now?

**What makes you say that? **

Look around.

**What? The glares? That doesn't exactly bother me. **

Not that, check out the looks that they're giving Teishi, especially the ninja.

**…They act as if they've never seen him before, even the ninja around his age. **

So if he isn't a Konoha shinobi, he must have had a teacher from Konoha.

**A missing-nin? **

Maybe.

**If so what is he doing here? **

Better question, why did he train us? Why did he bring us to Babylon? What happened to me there? He never really explained in detail.

**…ask him. **

What? Are you insane? I can't do that!

**If I am insane then so are you… brother. What? Are you scared? Want me to do it? I can if you're scared. **

Damn it, I'm not scared! Fine, I'll do it.'

Awkwardly, Naruto got closer to his sensei and prepared to ask his question.

"Uhh… Sensei…"

"You aren't ready." interrupted Teishi.

"What?" questioned Naruto.

"My past, you aren't ready to hear it." answered the boy's teacher.

"How did you…"

"I know you Naruto. Didn't you ever wonder why I was never surprised by your strategies? It isn't because they were bad, far from it. It's just that I could estimate what you would do before you did it. I admit that you came close some times, but I always had a counter ready." interrupted Teishi… again.

Teishi's explanation only raised more questions within Naruto. And an emotion he was unfamiliar with. With a soft voice, Naruto continued his interrogation.

"How do you…"

"We're here."

They had arrived at their destination: Konoha's ninja academy. Only this time, its courtyard held the entirety of Umino Iruka's class. As they had taken a slight detour, they weren't noticed by them.

"I thought that class was cancelled?"

"Nah, I just told them to come in at 10 instead of 8." explained Teishi.

"It's been a long time since I've seen these guys… Hey! There's Iruka-sensei! He was a great teacher…? Where's Mizuki-sensei?" asked Naruto.

"Mizuki attempted to defect to another village. However he was intercepted and killed." said Teishi. Naruto just stared at him in shock.

'Or rather, Sarutobi and I had him tested. He failed.'

"Anyway, here's the deal: When I'm done explaining the situation, you'll come out from wherever you are and attack me. The students' goal will be to stop you from killing me. By the way, I'm considered dead if I fall down, and I'll be dodging your attacks for the first five seconds. You can only use taijutsu, academy ninjutsu and kage bunshin, no weapons. Don't injure them too much, and the mission is an automatic failure if one of them dies. They'll be able to use all they want so watch yourself. They have to defend me for a full ten minutes. That's the amount of time you get to succeed. Understood?" Teishi briefed Naruto while he was observing the students.

"Wait a second… What do you mean by students?" Naruto had a really bad feeling about this.

"This is the graduation exam; the students will be graded on their performance."

"I have to take on all of them? And what about me? How am I supposed to pass?" whispered Naruto, his anger clearly visible.

"Didn't I tell you? You passed your test this morning. Congratulations by the way."

While Naruto basked in the pleasant feeling coursing through him, Teishi took this chance to walk towards the students.

* * *

'Well, I hope this works out. If any of them do badly… it won't look good if I enlist them anyway… I better think up some excuses… just in case.' 

Teishi was leaning against the academy's wall, surrounded by 29 students who were sitting down and watching him. Some were intrigued, some were indifferent and most girls were attracted. Iruka was standing next to him and three chuunin were standing at different places some yards away from the group. Naruto was nowhere to be seen.

'Not even a glimpse, he sure has gotten good at hiding himself. I guess he had to, MIST does that to people.'

Teishi ceased his attempts to locate his student and cleared his throat.

"Hello children, I am Nishizaki Teishi. I am here today because this is where some of you will take your final step in becoming young shinobi or kunoichi. This year a special program has been implemented, all those who do well in this test will be enlisted in a special unit, called FOX. FOX officially stands for Force Operation X but it also means FOR OUR FUTURE. Can anybody tell me how?" After a few moments, a little girl with long pink hair raised her hand. "Yes?"

"Well, it's because the future is unknown and in mathematics, the most common symbol for an unknown variable is X."

"Good, that is correct. This special FOX unit will give its members special training, special missions, special equipment and extra pay. This is for the best and brightest of Konoha. Most missions will be handled in a normal 3 genin cell, though the members of each team can change in accordance to the mission to increase overall success. In fact, you should think of yourselves as one great big team. Now, there are only 8 spots available for this class, so you should all try your best." The pink haired girl raised her hand again. "Yes, what is it? Ms…"

"Haruno Sakura. You said that all missions will be handled in teams of three, but you said that there were only 8 spots available. Does that mean that two people will always stay back?"

'So that's Sakura …'

"No, one spot is already taken. I believe you all know him, he was a part of this class until last year."

Shocked. Not only the students, but the teachers as well. It seems they hadn't been informed of that.

"WHAT! How the hell did Naruto get in! He's the worst ninja ever! And didn't he drop out!" screamed Kiba, incredulous. Most of the class reacted in similar ways.

"I assure you, my student has proven himself to me. And pretty soon he will prove himself to all of you." Teishi's voice had gone cold. It was enough make silence appear.

"Now that you've all calmed down, I'll continue. The test is simple, Naruto will try to attack me and you guys have to stop him. Naruto succeeds if he can knock me down to the ground. To help you guys out, I'll dodge his attacks for a full five seconds, though if he catches me by surprise then I can't do anything. You guys can use anything and everything and I highly recommend that you use lethal force; anything else will simply not work. You don't have to worry about him hurting you too badly because he's been instructed to only use academy ninjutsu and the use of a single advanced technique: Kage bunshin no jutsu. No lethal strikes and no weapons. This exercise will end after 10 minutes. I will now give you three minutes to prepare. That is all." concluded Teishi.

"You… You're kidding right?" asked Ino.

"No, I am not. Let me give you some advice. First, use all the techniques in your arsenal and I do mean all of them. Special techniques, family techniques, forbidden techniques and bloodlines. I'll be watching you all perform and I'll measure you all according to power, skill and potential. Second, watch your backs. Naruto's a tricky little bastard, he'll attack from anywhere. Third, work together. If any of you find yourselves fighting him alone then you've already lost. Fourth, if he gets you unconscious within the first two minutes then you will be disqualified. And last but not least, don't be fooled by appearances. I guarantee you that Naruto won't be using his full strength. If you push him too far, you'll find yourselves stuck with something that you can't handle."

Teishi could tell that a lot of them didn't believe him, but he could see that all the chosen had taken note of the information. Even if they were highly skeptical.

A few moments later, Teishi shouted:

"BEGIN!" and Iruka started the stopwatch.

'Hmm… at least they're all on alert. Now where the hell is Naruto? He isn't attacking… What would he normally do in a situation where he was outnumbered? Well, use kage bunshin to even the odds. Am I overlooking something?'

Teishi barely managed to hold himself as his fine tuned senses detected a technique being used a few meters underground.

'Oh crap… he's coming straight for me… this didn't take long… maybe I should warn them.'

Too late. Before he could act, the ground in front of him exploded and out came Naruto. An instant later, a dozen clones came out in the middle of the group and several academy students were pulled underground. While Naruto was occupied trying to hit Teishi, the remaining students were trying their best to dispel the clones. By the time they did, only 13 students were still conscious.

"Hey! You said five seconds!" yelled out an irate Naruto.

"I changed my mind. It shouldn't be too hard, right?" said Teishi, while ducking under Naruto's kick.

"Well… no… but I'm gonna have to…!"

Naruto's phrase was interrupted by Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto dodged the fist and turned to face his opponent before the next attack. He ducked under the kick and was about to retaliate when he was forced to dodge Kiba's tackle, which put him into the range of Shikamaru's Kagemane technique. Once he was immobilized, tens of bugs covered his legs and sucked out his chakra which forced the clone to dispel.

"Ok enough. The test is over." said Teishi, simultaneously trying to keep a smile off his face.

'Looks like his training paid off spectacularly, and he didn't even overrun us with clones… but he still acted too rashly. They probably haven't noticed, but he replaced himself with a clone right after he dodged Kiba. He's… right under Shikamaru. Good choice for a target.'

"Not yet… it's not over yet!"

'Well, I can't say I didn't expect this from you, Sasuke.'

"Even if we continue, the result will be the same. You wouldn't have lasted more than a minute anyway, Naruto has us surrounded and if I know him, he's about to assault us with rocks. Honestly though, you guys did better than I thought you would. You shouldn't be too disappointed; this is what's expected of academy students."

That didn't appear to comfort any of them.

"What about Naruto then?" This question came from Shikamaru. It looks as though he didn't enjoy being outsmarted. That was good.

"Naruto's special, but that's not the reason you lost. I repeatedly told you guys to use lethal force and none of you took out any kunai or shuriken. I specifically told you all to watch your backs and you didn't, you left too much space between yourselves and the target and really, only one of you was really watching me and that's Hinata." he could see her blush from the corner of his eye. "You took confidence in your numbers and let your guards down. Anyway, regardless of how short a time it lasted, I know who I want for my unit." They were all paying attention now; only five of them wouldn't make it, the rest were disqualified. Teishi mentally reviewed the battle.

'Well, Ino and Sakura were the only ones that avoided being pulled down, and they took down a clone together. Hinata's the only responsible one in the whole class… or rather, she was the only one that didn't underestimate Naruto. She also took a clone down. Chouji took out a clone and so did Kiba. Sasuke took down two and Shino did the same. Shikamaru immobilized three long enough for someone to take them down. And Naruto took advantage of their weaknesses to complete the mission. The others are inconsequential.'

"Aburame Shino" No reaction.

"Akimichi Chouji" A wide smile and the sound a pack of chips opening.

"Yamanaka Ino" A happy jump and a taunt to her rival.

"Haruno Sakura" The same.

"Inuzuka Kiba" He gave a grin as he ruffled Akamaru's head.

"Nara Shikamaru" He smiled as his best friend offered him congratulations.

"Hyuuga Hinata" A sigh of relief and a gentle smile.

"Uchiha Sasuke" The sense of a hollow victory.

"As an infamous man once said: Welcome to my unit." Teishi let the sentence linger in the air for a few moments before saying "As for the others, you did well by managing to say conscious but it was not enough. Better luck next year. Now, let's dig out your classmates and make sure they're all alright."

(30 minutes later)

After helping the chuunin unearth the academy students and confirming their well being, Teishi lead his newly formed FOX unit to the new compound created by the Hokage for them. Well, the FOX unit minus Naruto. He seemed to have disappeared. Teishi described the compound's layout to them as they walked.

"Our compound had three main sections: the dormitory, the administrative building and the training center. The dormitory has 4 floors with 10 rooms on the top three floors. The first floor has a fully equipped kitchen as well as a recreational center. The second floor is the boy's floor and each room can hold up to three people. The third floor is the instructor's floor and each room holds a single instructor. The last floor is the girl's floor and each room can also hold up to three people. I'm sure you can figure out why we put the instructor's floor in the middle. This serves as a warning to you boys: If you peek, make sure you don't get caught. You are shinobi so act like one."

He could tell that this wasn't what they expected to hear.

"Sensei!" unsurprisingly, the girls were outraged, well, Sakura and Ino were outraged, Hinata was just holding back the urge to faint out of pure embarrassment. The guys were just staring at him.

"What? Ok fine." The girls visibly relaxed and Hinata's blush got a little less intense.

"You can peek too, but the rules apply to all of you."

That did it. Right before Sakura and Ino's eyes focused on Sasuke and just as he took a step back, Hinata's noble efforts crumbled and she wobbled on her feet for a few seconds before she hit the floor.

"Hm… We're going to have to work on that. Chouji-kun, could you carry her? We're almost at the entrance anyway."

(5 minutes later)

They had entered the dorm and the REC center. Teishi had Chouji lay Hinata on one of the many couches and then sent a short burst of chakra into her mind to jump-start it. She woke up and immediately checked her surrounding, and calmed down when she recognized her comrades.

"Anyway, now that Hinata's awake, I can continue. The administrative building is where you'll get your missions. You will also have to write and give in your training schedule every three days. The training center takes up most of compound; it has outdoor and indoor training areas. The indoor training area is where the weapons are stored as well as training equipment such as weights and chakra scrambling seals for chakra control training. The outdoor training area includes a forest, an artificial lake and several hostile animals. That's about all you need to know… any questions?"

Hinata shyly raised her hand and asked. "Um… do we have to live here?"

"Not really, but it is highly recommended. You can move in and out as you wish, you can think of this as a second home. We have no curfew." explained Teishi.

Then Sasuke spoke up. "You mentioned instructors. Who are they?"

'…Little punk…'

"You'll meet them when Naruto gets here."

"Why is he not here? He is to be our teammate, is he not?" questioned Shino.

"We spent the last year training outside of Konoha. This is the first time he's stepped on home soil for quite a while. He'll probably be here soon; he just has some catching up to do."

* * *

"…Your hair's longer." 

"Never really had a chance to shorten it, I ran out of kunai to cut my hair with pretty early. Besides, I was too busy to worry about anything other than hiding from Teishi."

Naruto's blond locks had reached shoulder length during his time with Teishi. The added weight no longer allowed them to defy gravity as they had when they were shorter.

"Ah… maybe you should leave it like this. It might get Sakura's attention."

Blushing, Naruto asked "…You think so?"

"Chuckles Well, I'm glad to see that you haven't changed all that much Naruto… well, maybe you're taller than I remember."

Grinning happily, Naruto countered.

"I'm glad you haven't changed at all Iruka-sensei…"

"Shouldn't you go join your teammates?"

Naruto's grin faltered a little. "Yeah, I guess I should."

"What's wrong?" asked Iruka, concerned at Naruto's apparent reluctance.

"I don't know. I guess I'm just worried that they might be mad at me for kicking their asses so bad." mumbled Naruto.

"Don't worry about it, they'll get over it in time." assured Iruka.

"You think so?"

"I'm positive."

"Thank you Iruka-sensei… You wanna get some ramen?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

* * *

When Naruto sneaked into the REC, only Teishi noticed him. Chouji was currently trouncing Kiba over at the foosball table while Shikamaru, Hinata and Shino were watching the big screen TV. Ino and Sakura spent their time trying to make Sasuke speak. Even their combined efforts were futile. 

"Took you long enough." said Teishi.

Instantly everyone turned from what they were doing to stare at him. Ignoring their gazes, Naruto responded:

"Me and Iruka-sensei went to get some ramen."

Before Teishi could say anything, Sasuke interrupted.

"You made us all wait because you went to get some ramen?" the irritation in his voice was palpable.

"I was hungry and I hadn't seen Iruka-sensei in a while. What are you, impatient or just an ass?"

Naruto and Sasuke didn't get along. They didn't get along at all.

"You bastard!" screamed Sasuke as he threw himself from his seat, startling both Sakura and Ino who were seated next to him.

"What's the matter? You never got this angry this fast before. Ooooh, I know." taunted Naruto with a cocksure grin.

Everyone knew what he was going to say before he said it. Everyone also knew what was going to happen when he said it, especially Sasuke. It didn't change a damn thing.

"You're just bitter because I beat you so badly. I never thought you'd be such a sore loser Sasuke-teme." Naruto said with a nonchalant attitude.

There it was. A direct attack. The next chain of events is now inevitable.

"That did not count. You may have won the exercise but I was never defeated." snarled Sasuke as he took several steps towards Naruto.

"Well, I guess that's a mistake I'm gonna have to fix." said Naruto.

A stand-off, Naruto and Sasuke stood an arm's length apart waiting for the other to make the first move. It was only when Sasuke opened his kunai pouch that someone intervened. And it wasn't Teishi; he was watching the proceeding from his seat with a detached expression.

"Stop it you two! Naruto! Stop provoking Sasuke-kun!" yelled Sakura as she put herself between the two.

However, her efforts at diffusing the situation were foiled when Naruto asked her:

"Sakura-chan, are you doing this because you don't want to see teammates fight or because you just don't want to see him lose?"

It was the silence that did it.

"Sakura, get out of the way." said Sasuke.

"No."

"Sakura-chan please, I don't want you to get hurt." said Naruto.

"No I won't!"

"Sakura. You're in the way."

When Teishi spoke, everyone looked at him. It seems as though they had forgotten he was there.

"But… but Sensei!" pleaded Sakura.

"It's better if they know the result with certainty. Don't worry; I won't let them kill each other. One thing though, they're no freaking way you're having your little brawl in here. There is to be no fighting in the dorm, if you break anything I will kill you." Once he felt he had inspired enough fear in them, he continued. "There's a little place in the indoor training area that I like to call the coliseum. It was created to let you guys have little sparring matches, you will fight there. Come on, let's go."

Once Teishi got up Sakura knew she was beaten. She slumped to her knees as Naruto and Sasuke followed Teishi out, Sasuke with a fearsome scowl and Naruto with a wicked grin.

Once they left, no one spoke for a few moments.

"Man oh man, I gotta see this! Sasuke losing his cool… HAH! There's no way he's winning like this." said Kiba, obviously excited.

"Shut up Kiba! There's no way Sasuke-kun's losing to Naruto." Ino obviously disagreed with Kiba.

"Do you really believe that Ino?" asked Shikamaru.

"Of course I do! Naruto took us by surprise. There's no way he can beat Sasuke-kun in a fair match!" yelled out Ino.

"I do not agree, my bugs got a taste of Naruto's chakra and it is… quite formidable." said Shino.

"What are we waiting here for? Come on, let's go!" yelled out Kiba before he and Akamaru followed after Teishi.

With that most everyone followed after them. First were Chouji and Shikamaru, then Hinata and then Shino.

Sakura and Ino stayed, looking at the door and dreading what awaited them beyond it.

"Ino-pig… you didn't really mean what you said." said Sakura.

"No… No I didn't. I remember what Nishizaki-sensei said." whispered Ino.

Ino helped Sakura get up and they both followed after the group.

* * *

"Before we start, I need to introduce these people to you." 

The coliseum was shaped like the chuunin exam's indoor arena, with the first floor completely bare and the second floor with stands for spectators. Once everyone had entered the coliseum, Teishi had left for a few tension filled minutes. When he came back, he was accompanied by three people.

He pointed to a man with a black hair and beard, and a cigarette smoking between his lips.

"This is Sarutobi Asuma. His specialty is armed taijutsu."

He pointed to a pretty woman with long black hair and striking red eyes.

"This is Yuuhi Kurenai. Her specialty is genjutsu."

He pointed to a man with silver hair, a facemask and his forehead protector covering one eye.

"This is Hatake Kakashi. He's a ninjutsu specialist."

"These three will your instructors and the squad commanders while on missions. You can specify your training schedule with them later. Naruto, Sasuke are you ready?" asked Teishi.

Sasuke responded with a fierce nod and Naruto with a casual 'Yep'

"Okay then, you can start anytime. Oh and boys? Same rules as this afternoon." said Teishi as he and the others walked up to the second floor.

"What? That's not fair!" complained Naruto.

"Deal with it. Think of it as training. Besides, I never said you couldn't go wild." yelled out Teishi.

"Grr… Fine." Sasuke didn't look happy. "What's your problem? Think it's gonna be too easy? Dream on, you still don't stand a chance." Naruto continued to egg Sasuke on.

"I'm going to make you eat those words dead-last." Sasuke rushed towards Naruto.

"Dead-last? That's such a lame insult. You suck in so many different ways, at so many different things Sasuke… it's really pathetic." said Naruto as he started to block and dodge Sasuke's strikes.

Up in the stands, the newly introduced instructors approached Teishi.

"Um… sir, are you sure this is wise?" questioned Asuma.

"What?"

"This whole… situation." clarified Asuma.

"Don't worry about it, Naruto won't kill Sasuke and Sasuke can't kill Naruto. Besides, they need this." answered Teishi.

"What makes you think that Naruto can beat Sasuke? He is the academy's number one rookie." asked Kakashi.

"What makes me so sure is that I trained him myself. Sasuke doesn't stand a chance, even with the restrictions I put on Naruto. It doesn't help that he's trying to beat Naruto at his own game." said Teishi, with pure confidence.

"What do you mean?" asked Kurenai.

"The restrictions I put on Naruto are that he cannot use killing force, he cannot use weapons and he can only use academy ninjutsu and kage bunshin. What I said about Sasuke is that he's trying to beat Naruto using taijutsu alone." answered Teishi.

"Naruto can use kage bunshin? That's a jounin level technique." said Kakashi.

"That's not the only jounin ability he has. I taught him quite a lot of them."

"He shouldn't have the chakra to use them." said Asuma.

"He has more chakra than anyone in the village." said Teishi.

With that phrase came a lot of disbelief.

"Believe it. I had Hokage-sama describe your chakra levels to me. None of you come close. On the other hand, his control was horrible until a little while ago. He used almost five times the amount of chakra needed."

"Is it because of… you know what?" asked Asuma.

"Partly, but he hasn't used that chakra in a while."

"How can you tell?" asked Kakashi.

"Trust me, when he uses it, everyone can tell."

"What are the restrictions put on Sasuke?" asked Kurenai.

"Officially he can use whatever he wishes. Kunai, shuriken and any technique he knows."

"What? What if Naruto fails to dodge a lethal hit?" asked Kurenai.

"Nothing. It won't happen anyway."

"Are you that confident?" asked Kakashi.

"Yeah. And Sasuke won't allow himself to use the advantages I've given him… Looks like it's almost over."

Naruto had leaned back to avoid Sasuke's right hook. He then rushed forward and into extremely close proximity to Sasuke, which rendered him unable to complete the kick he had started. Naruto then delivered a fierce blow into Sasuke, right between his navel and his heart, therefore putting pressure on his solar plexus. The pain overwhelmed Sasuke, paralyzing his body for a moment. It was more than enough time for Naruto to grapple Sasuke to the ground and dig a hand into Sasuke's kunai pouch. By the time Naruto held the kunai to Sasuke's throat, Teishi was standing next to them.

"You know, technically that's using a weapon… but I'll let it go this time." said Teishi.

"……." Naruto said nothing as he let go of Sasuke and stood up.

"So you finally figured it out, huh." It wasn't a question. Naruto turned to Teishi and looked at his hands, pondering on his recent actions.

"Sensei, what… what was I fighting for? Why? I wasn't fighting for acknowledgement or anything… Was I really fighting just to hurt Sasuke? Is that what I really want?" Naruto's voice reached everyone in that room; everybody could hear every word with crystal clarity. And no one could find anything to tell him.

"Sensei, before I started fighting Sasuke, I was filled with fury. I thought that finally, I could pay back everything that was done to me with interest. Sasuke had become the focal point for all my hatred… because he was their chosen one."

"I never asked for it. They decided that all on their own." mumbled Sasuke, while keeping his eyes away from Naruto's.

"I knew that, with the way you acted it was obvious. I hated you anyway. But, when we started fighting, I started thinking about it and I realized that I was no better than they are. I hated you because of the actions of others. I mean, sure you made fun of me sometimes… but you still treated me a thousand times better than they did. After that, all the fury, all the hatred… disappeared. In its place came this empty feeling inside. It's making me sick." For an instant, Naruto truly looked as if he was about to lose his lunch… but then the look disappeared and he appeared like he did before. Most wondered if they imagined it. Teishi knew he hadn't.

"Sensei, what was it you said to me? On my birthday?" asked Naruto.

"I told you to beware of hatred because it is something that creates more of itself, by itself." answered Teishi.

"I wish to become Hokage; I cannot do that if I hate those who I must protect. Then I need to cleanse the hatred lodged deep within my heart."

Teishi immediately understood. His understanding of Naruto's personality enabled him to know that to Naruto, such an endeavor could only be completed with a blood sacrifice. So he dug into his utility pouch and threw one of his kunai to Naruto.

He was the only one that didn't react when Naruto impaled his hand with that kunai. He could tell the genin were shocked, that much was obvious. The jounin were taking it far better… in appearance. He knew they had noticed it. When the blade pierced his hand, Naruto had barely even twitched in pain.

"……The blood I spill here today is carrying my hatred for the villagers. No longer, will I curse their names. I will protect this village and every single one of its inhabitants with my life. This I swear."

Unknown to the others, Naruto's words were echoed by his other half in his sanctuary. It happened rarely: times where their thoughts and actions were perfectly synchronized.

After completing his vow, Naruto removed the kunai and let the blood escape the wound. He waved his hand around, letting his blood paint the floor red. When he judged that a suitable amount had been spilled, he allowed the wound to heal. He turned to face Sasuke and bowed.

"Sasuke, I'm sorry." Sasuke just looked at him with disbelieving eyes.

"You done yet? We still have stuff to do, you know." interrupted (rather rudely) Teishi.

"Yeah, that's all I wanted to say." answered Naruto, who was far too used to Teishi to bother getting angry.

"Alright then." He then turned to the stands and yelled: "HEY! COME DOWN HERE!"

While the jounin took no time at all to appear next to Teishi, the genin took a lot longer. It seems that Naruto's act had shocked more than one.

'Hmm… Now that I think about it, this is probably the first time any of them have seen anything like this… Sasuke's been particularly affected. Naruto's actions go against everything Itachi's ever taught him… and Sasuke's still very much his brother's pawn. I'm going to have to fix that.'

"Sasuke, me and you are going to have little… talk after we're done here." said Teishi. He didn't look at Sasuke for a sign of confirmation. It was going to happen, no matter what Sasuke had to say about it.

The 7 rookies approached in unison, their eyes fixed on Naruto. The jounin were watching him as well, even if they were more discreet in their observation.

"Um… Uh… N..Naruto-kun… Are you alright? Shouldn't you…dress that wound?" asked Hinata.

"Huh? Not really, it's just about healed anyway." answered Naruto. He raised his hand and wiped off the blood to show her. "See?"

The wound was closing in front of their eyes. After a few seconds, the only thing that remained of it was the blood that covered his hands and the floor.

"That's amazing… There's not even a scar!" exclaimed Ino.

"You'll have plenty of time to gawk at it later, now come here." said Teishi.

Teishi reached into his utility pouch and took out a storage scroll. He kneeled on the ground and unrolled it. Unrolled, it measured 15 feet in length and was covered with nine separate storage seals connected by connection scripts. Next to each inscription was the name of one of the nine genin. Teishi poured chakra into the connection script and released the storage seals. Immediately, next to each script appeared a Konoha forehead protector, a uniform and a scroll. Naruto's storage seal released a sword as well.

"Each of you will receive the standard Konoha forehead protector, it is what identifies you as a genin. You will also receive one of the FOX unit's special stealth suits and a scroll to store it in. The scroll also has the instructions on how to use it but we'll go over that in a minute. As FOX operatives, you will each be assigned a code name to use during missions. Each code name includes a color and an animal. There are three colors: red, black and white. Red signifies that the operative has a high chance of being emotionally motivated during a mission and that they are well suited for combat; black signifies the opposite, the operative is usually cool and precise during missions and prefers to strike from the shadows and white means that the operative has a high aptitude at using and detecting genjutsu." said Teishi.

"But sensei that means that it's possible for someone to be two colors." said Sakura.

"I know, white got its own category once I realized that there was a decrease in the use of genjutsu in recent years. You'll get the category that most fits you." explained Teishi.

"Shino, you're Shadow Mantis.

Kiba, you're Scarlet Wolf.

Chouji, you're Ruby Bear.

Shikamaru, you're Onyx Coyote.

Ino, you're Pearl Chameleon.

Sakura, you're Bone Dove.

Sasuke, you're Ebon Snake.

Hinata, you're Snow Owl.

And Naruto, you're Crimson Phoenix. Your instructors also have code names except that they're named after trees.

Kurenai's White Elm.

Kakashi's Black Maple.

And Asuma's Red Oak. Does everyone know their code names?" said Teishi.

"What's your code name?" asked Kiba.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm The Boss." answered Teishi.

Even the jounin were surprised at his choice.

"Anyway, I'll explain how the stealth suit 'Chameleon' works. It's been specially designed to function like a chameleon's skin. When you activate it, it'll chance its color to match that of your surroundings. It doesn't make you undetectable though, so don't try anything stupid. It's chakra powered so I'd recommend not leaving it on. You don't need to have it change small details every few seconds and once it changes to a color pattern it stays on it for a couple of hours. It's equipped with short range radio support, so you'll be able to communicate with any teammate within a mile from your position. In the scroll, you'll also find a summoning technique. Whenever you use the technique, you'll be fitted with the suit. If you cancel the summoning, the suit will return to its storage scroll. To use the technique, you need to have the storage scroll in your possession. Otherwise, it will not work. The suit itself is resistant to damage and doesn't restrict your movements in any way." said Teishi.

The Chameleon suit is a dark grey formfitting full body suit. It is thicker and darker at the chest area and the elbow and knee joints. It also has two built-in utility pouches at the belt area and one at thigh level. It has 6 scroll pockets, two on each side of the chest and two larger ones between the utility pouches. There was also a hood and facemask attached to the suit.

"Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura under Kakashi will form the first unit. Ino, Chouji and Shikamaru under Asuma will form the second unit. Shino, Kiba and Hinata under Kurenai will form the third unit. Unless modified beforehand, these are the teams you'll complete missions with. This completes the briefing. Sasuke, come with me."

Teishi waited while Sasuke picked up his equipment and when he was done, led him into the outdoor training area. When they were gone, the remaining genin approached and examined their equipment while the instructors conversed between themselves.

"Hey Shikamaru, what do you think of the teams?" asked Chouji.

"It's all pretty standard… except for Naruto and Sasuke being on the same team. But something about all this doesn't feel right." said Shikamaru.

"What do you mean?" asked Chouji.

"When did he have the time to do all this? We passed the test a few hours ago, it isn't like this is just any suit; it was customized to fit me perfectly." answered Shikamaru.

"Huh? Hey, mine is too." said Chouji.

"Not just that, look around, the utility pouch that's on the leg changes place depending on whether they are left or right handed. There's no way he made enough of these suits for the entire class. So that means…"

"Nishizaki-san already knew who he wanted beforehand." interrupted Shino, revealing that the other genin were listening to their conversation.

"Yeah, that's right... Naruto, did Nishizaki-san tell you to target specific… Naruto?"

Shikamaru searched the room but he found no trace of Naruto. The only thing that indicated that he had ever even been in the room was the blood that stained the ground.

* * *


	4. Chapter 3

Hey All! Sorry this took so long, but I got side-tracked by a lot of things.(Games... lots of them.)

Anyway, in this chapter Teishi finally gets around to explaining his (Well, it is essentially his sensei's) ultimate goal. It'll really effect the end of this fic. (It's not going to end for a long time.) Enjoy! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews!

* * *

"You don't know me, stop acting like you do. You don't understand. No one does."

"I know more about you, your clan and your path than you ever will. A pawn can never see the full picture."

They were both in a clearing in the outdoor training area. Teishi was leaning against a tree trunk and was using its leaves as protection against the midday sun. Sasuke was glaring at him a few feet away.

When they had left the others, Teishi had them both run around the woods in an erratic fashion. He then summoned multiple clones and made half of them transform into Sasuke. He instructed each pair to run around in a highly confusing manner. Once that was done, they traveled to their destination where Teishi promptly informed Sasuke that his Avenger campaign was idiotic. Naturally, this didn't sit well with Sasuke.

"Don't tell me that you thought that you were doing it of your own volition? If I remember correctly he said: 'My foolish brother, if you want to kill me, curse me, hate me and life a loathsome life. Run away, run away, and cling to your pathetic life. And then some day, when you have the same eyes as I do, come before me.'… isn't that right Sasuke?" Teishi's distaste for Sasuke gave a cruel tinge to his voice.

'I'm sorry sensei, but… I'll never forgive him for what he's done… even if he hasn't done it yet. I hate Uchiha Sasuke, now and forever. The best I'll allow myself to do is give him a greater opportunity for salvation. If he opts to refuse my help and follow the path leading him towards moral decay…

Then I will kill him. Here and now.

I know you'll never forgive me for it… but at this point, I'm willing to accept that. You taught me to do whatever was necessary to protect my precious people. Unfortunately for him, Sasuke isn't one of them.'

Sasuke's previous anger dissipated and revealed the emotions running underneath. He shook slightly at the words being spoken and they were particularly painful because Teishi's tone emulated Itachi's perfectly. In those few moments he realized that Teishi scared him. Here, in this place, he was feeling fear that he hadn't felt since that day. He didn't know that it was because Teishi could barely restrain his hate when confronted with him or that the faint killer intent that escaped Teishi was giving the clearing an oppressive feeling to those sensitive to such things.

No, he just knew that Teishi made him feel like his brother did and he had previously believed that no one else could make him feel this way. They made him want to crawl into a hole and scream at them to stay away, stay far, far away. Teishi was counting on that reaction.

When he was a few years younger, Naruto had revealed everything. He gave Teishi the story of his life, from his birth up to the present. What was so special about the gesture is that he had also given Teishi what would never be included in any history book. He had told Teishi his perspective on what had happened. His thoughts, feelings and all he knew about his comrades. This only cemented Teishi's idolization of his teacher. It didn't make him hate Sasuke any less though. When Teishi had asked Naruto for the reason behind his sudden gesture, Naruto had responded with:

'My dear boy, I'm telling you this because I don't want the future generations to repeat our mistakes.'

At the time, Teishi hadn't understood. Naruto was a demon lord. His body didn't go through senescence, his body didn't deteriorate. He knew that Naruto's life-span far exceeded his own; therefore he would get a chance to prevent those mistakes himself. It was only now that he understood. Naruto had been planning for this last mission, he'd been preparing for years.

This is how Teishi knows what Itachi told Sasuke, because Itachi revealed everything to Naruto before his death using the Mangekyou Sharingan's Tsukuyomi. It is also how he knows how Sasuke acted when he first met Orochimaru.

'Except this time, Naruto isn't here for you to lean on. You'll have to act on your own.'

"Your performance in the fight was horrible. How did you hope to beat Naruto at his own game? I gave you multiple opportunities to take advantage of, and you didn't. What'll you do when you fight against Itachi? You think that you can just beat him without thinking? That once you get the Sharingan that he won't stand a chance? Let me tell you something boy, Itachi is a better Uchiha than you in every way. If you rely on your clan's techniques then you will lose. Badly."

"You're wrong, he is not an Uchiha." Sasuke's usual conviction was slipping…

"You know what? You're right. He isn't an Uchiha. He's the best Uchiha. He's the maximum expression of your bloodline. You haven't gotten the special training your brother has and you haven't participated in any of the clan's affairs. You may have an Uchiha's blood but you aren't a true Uchiha."

Sasuke looked like he wanted to respond but Teishi didn't give him a chance to do it.

"Itachi was to become the clan's leader, but he realized something. The clan had become weak. They had become disillusioned by their own eyes. They believed themselves to be the best in Konoha when none of them put any real effort in their training. They just relied entirely on the Sharingan's abilities with genjutsu, copying ninjutsu and predicting and seeing through taijutsu. They judged everyone according to natural talent and put no worth in hard work. But you should already know that. Your father is the perfect example of this. He valued Itachi more than you simply because Itachi is more talented than you are."

Sasuke desperately wished to be able to say something, anything… but he knew it was true.

"When he was inducted into ANBU, everything changed. Suddenly, Itachi was forced to complete extremely dangerous missions with other ninja. I don't know if you knew this, but Itachi was the only Uchiha to join ANBU in nearly a decade. Usually all Uchiha simply joined the police force. Anyway, Itachi suddenly got a wake-up call from his teammates. He realized that the Uchiha weren't the strongest in Konoha. Not only that, they were foolishly planning to overthrow the Hokage."

"…How do you know that?" asked Sasuke.

"I already told you. In the main temple of the Nanako shrine, on the far right side, under the seventh tatami mat is the Uchiha clan's meeting place. There they kept a well hidden record of all their plans. It is only revealed when someone with Uchiha blood is in the vicinity. Anyway, Itachi decided to cut his losses. As far as he was concerned, the clan was already too far gone. He tested every member of the clan to see if there were some that were worthy of being part of the new clan he planned to create. Needless to say, they all failed. This is where you come in. His plan is to basically an experiment to see if he can create another him in you. You know what the Mangekyou's true purpose is right?"

"…"

"I know you do. Then you shouldn't be surprised to hear that your brother is currently working in an organization that hunts down and captures demon containers. After all, he doesn't have anywhere near enough chakra to open the portal by himself."

"……"

"Sasuke, tell me something. Why do you want to kill your brother? Is it because it's your duty as an Uchiha? Is it because he made you feel a great amount of pain? Or is it because it's your duty as a Leaf-ninja?"

"………"

"Well, it actually isn't your duty as an Uchiha. Itachi did what was best for the clan. He did it badly, but it was still his duty. If you're doing it because Itachi hurt you, then I can only tell you to grow up. It is not worth the trouble. If you're doing it because it's your duty as a leaf-nin then you're not the one that has to kill him. He has to die but that doesn't mean that you're the one that has to do it."

"…No…because… he killed my family."

"Sasuke, have you forgotten? He is your family. They would've died when they betrayed the village anyway. You have a choice to make Sasuke. Think before you choose because this will be the single most important choice of your life. Choose between your clan and the village."

'Life or death. Choose carefully boy.'

"I can't abandon my clan."

"What clan? Sasuke, you and your brother are the last survivors of the Uchiha clan. Your brother plans on completing your clan's purpose. If you really want to follow your clan's path then you'll have to join him. If all you really want is to make sure that the sharingan isn't lost, then you just have to create a new clan."

"…"

"What's it going to be Sasuke? The village or the clan?"

"…Itachi…where is he?"

"He's currently a member or the organization that calls itself Akatsuki."

"I want to kill him. That hasn't changed."

'Looks like he can't choose just yet… I guess I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, Sasuke. But there's no way I'll allow you to run free… Nara-san, you once advised me to keep my friends close but to keep my enemies even closer. I think this is the perfect opportunity to apply that.'

"I wasn't expecting it to... Sasuke, I have a proposition for you. I know a number of techniques that work well against opponents that use the sharingan and Itachi is becoming quite a big thorn in my side. I would be willing to teach those techniques to you… in exchange for something."

"What do you want?" Those words flew out of Sasuke's mouth as dark thoughts filled his mind. It was becoming increasingly apparent to Teishi that Sasuke was currently unable to move past Itachi. He hoped, or at least thought that spending more time mingling with his new unit would wear Sasuke's barrier down enough for Teishi to move in. If not…

"What do you have to offer me that you believe I would want?" asked Teishi.

Sasuke tried to think of something that would interest someone like Teishi, but he couldn't come up with anything. After a few moments of silence, Teishi made his request.

"Work for me Sasuke. Make a pact of allegiance to me and I will give you my aid."

"What will I need to do?"

"Nothing much, your main mission will be to help Naruto and to make sure he stays alive. I might give you additional missions every now and then. But that's all."

"Naruto? Why would he serve you?" asked Sasuke.

"Naruto doesn't serve me. I'm teaching him for two reasons: one is because I like him and the other is because he will eventually become Hokage. But that isn't of your concern. You'd better choose fast Sasuke, we only have a couple more minutes before Naruto homes in on our location." explained Teishi.

Teishi could see that Sasuke had doubts, many doubts. Particularly about his knowledge of clan affairs and certainly about his association with his brother but it appeared that the promise of relatively safe power was enough for him to give a slight nod in answer. In his logic, if he feared Teishi nearly as much as he feared his brother, then they must be similar in strength. A lot about Teishi didn't make sense, so he would keep his eyes on him. Unbeknownst to him, this was actually in Teishi's favor.

"Understood, we'll start your training immediately. But first…" said Teishi before looking to his left and saying: "Hey Naruto, it's great that you found us so fast, but you forgot that it's possible for the hunter to become the hunted. You've been tagged by clones ever since you entered the forest."

There were a few moments of silence before a sigh emanated from the branches of a nearby tree.

"Where were they? I looked everywhere." asked Naruto, disappointed. He had truly thought that this time, he had managed to approach Teishi undetected.

"Yeah, you looked for people. That's your mistake. You've got to assume that your enemy will come in any form, shape or size. You didn't bother to look at those rocks twice or to wonder what the hell was up with that wolf that was following you around. But you didn't do all that bad. It's practically impossible to sneak up on someone that's expecting you anyway." explained Teishi.

"I've always wondered why you never transform into a bird." asked Naruto.

"That's easy. There are two reasons, the first being that I'm just as heavy in any form I take, so I'd never be able to get off the ground. For the other, well… Do you know how to fly Naruto?" asked Teishi.

"Uh… no." came Naruto's brilliant response.

"Exactly. Even if I could transform into a bird and it was physically possible for me to fly, I wouldn't know how. They don't just flap their wings around, you know? It took me long enough to learn how to run in that wolf form. A really good ninja would still be able to figure out the difference between me and a real wolf, especially an Inuzuka." explained Teishi.

"Nishizaki-sa...sensei, how did Naruto find us? I don't see how he could've done it." asked Sasuke.

"Usually he could've followed our scent, but I used a jutsu to make us smell like trees while you weren't looking. And since I didn't bother to erase our tracks, he just followed ours."

"But there were so many of them! He couldn't have followed them all." exclaimed Sasuke.

"He didn't. I said earlier that I weigh the same in all my forms, which includes yours. I'm heavier than you so our footprints aren't as deep as each other's. It must've taken him a good while but I'm pretty sure that's how he found us. Isn't that right Naruto?" said Teishi.

"…yeah."

"Now come down here, there are some things I need to tell you both." said Teishi.

Again, there was silence while Naruto thought about Teishi's request. He would've already shown himself if it had just been Teishi, but since Sasuke was present he didn't know if he should show himself. He had no desire to fight Sasuke again.

Then he realized that hiding was the same as running away so he jumped from his perch and into the clearing. Predictably, the air was full of tension for a few seconds, but when Naruto realized that Sasuke wasn't going to attack, he relaxed. Sasuke had some issues with Naruto, especially since Teishi's official reasons for training Naruto were revealed, but that was to be expected. The unofficial and true reason is known only by the Hokage.

"Naruto, you did well against Sasuke. There are some things you need to improve upon, but otherwise you did fine. Now Sasuke on the other hand… I get what you were trying to do, but that understanding doesn't make it seem any less stupid. I mean really, what kind of idiot actually tries to fight fire with fire? The only good way to fight fire is with water Sasuke, exploit your opponent's weaknesses. No matter how cheap it may seem and no matter what they may be. We are ninja, this is what we do. Holding back when you're confident about you and your opponent's capabilities is okay, but otherwise it's really just a bad idea. But that's not really what I wanted to talk to the two of you about. By the way, you should sit down… this'll take a while." said Teishi.

Teishi closed his eyes and gathered his thoughts while they sat down. What he was about to reveal would forever alter their vision of their race.

"Since Naruto's my personal student and you're my agent Sasuke, there are some things you need to be aware of. To really understand everything, we have to start with a few hidden facts about the world. The first is that in this world there are multiple planes of existence. In each plane there is a dominant species. In this plane of existence, called Gaia, we humans are dominant. Another of the known planes is called Aurora and that's where all the summoned animals come from, mostly because it's closer to us than any other plane. Even though the summons all look and act different, they're really all one same species so they're dominant in Aurora. One plane is close to here but we have no information about it. We only know of its existence because of the events involving the plane closest to Solaria… Makai."

The way Teishi's body froze with dread when speaking that word told of bad things to come.

"Makai is a world that closely resembles ours. What I mean is that the land is practically identical. Its dominant species is… was known as the devil."

Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened as their minds made connections and predicted where the story was going. They weren't even close.

"In Makai, the inhabitants are known as daemons. Now, there is or was a daemonic version of every species in Gaia. From the rats to the eagles. The devil is the daemonic version of humans. Approximately 500 years ago, the devils found a way into our world. A few bad encounters eventually escaladed into a full blown war between our species. The devils were by far and away superior physically, but scriptures say that we humans used to be able to use an art called magic. I don't know many details, so I'll skip over that part. The war went on for over a hundred and fifty years. One day, the emperor was killed and his son was put on the throne. Unfortunately, his son was not ready to rule. Simply put, he was a fool."

It was becoming obvious that Teishi carried a lot of hatred for that emperor. The killing intent filling the clearing was a testament to that. It felt less oppressive than before to Sasuke because it wasn't directed at him, but it was terrifying nonetheless. Naruto gave no visible reaction. He seemed to be caught up in his inner thoughts. After calming himself down, Teishi continued.

"Unfortunately, he was a genius when it came to matters of battle. He claimed that he had created a way to instantly defeat his enemies. He had his army scatter around the continent and had them collect all the children in each town. He then had his men perform ceremonies on them. Instantly, the devils began to disappear and everyone was overjoyed. It didn't last long." said Teishi.

"What happened?" asked Sasuke. Naruto still gave no reaction.

"The emperor told everyone just what those ceremonies had done." whispered Teishi.

He waited for a few moments before asking: "The ceremony had only one purpose: seal the devils away. And Naruto… you know where the only place to seal a daemon is… right?"

"He didn't…" whispered Naruto, shaking his head in horror and disbelief.

"Yeah, he sealed them in the children. The stronger the devil, the younger the sacrifice had to be… but that's not all. The emperor had become fascinated with the devil's power, so he performed a special ceremony on himself… multiple times. It is said that he absorbed over 100 devils. He stayed in his castle for a long time after that. Both sides needed to recover so the war was put on hold. The humans needed to find out what the effects would be on the children so they spent the next 50 years researching. While they were doing that, the devils regrouped and created what would be their last stronghold… Babylon…

Anyway, the results of the research remained private, but the government started to gather the children of those who had been subjected to the ceremonies. The scriptures say that the only things that were known publicly were that the children were being trained in a new art and that they had lost the ability to use magic. In its place came the ability to use chakra.

Then, the war began anew. But now the human warriors were no longer mages… they were shinobi. The devils were annihilated. And the destruction of Babylon marked the beginning of a new era, the chakra era.

That's the storybook version. It is a hidden version, but it's still incomplete.

The truth is that we aren't completely human. The last full-blooded humans on the continent became extinct over 200 years ago. The modern human being is a mix of human and devil. Those who contained devils with great power developed what we call bloodlines. In fact, you know that story about the sharingan coming from the byakugan? Well, the truth is that the first Hyuuga contained the devil whose son was absorbed by the first Uchiha. The human/devil ratio determines whether the person is jutsu oriented or taijutsu oriented. That's why some people have no talent in taijutsu and in some extreme cases; they cannot use chakra at all.

But that isn't exactly a problem. The problem lies with the emperor. A little known fact is that the emperor was actually present at the last battle and not only that, he looked exactly like he did over 50 years earlier. Something I didn't bother to tell you earlier is that we outnumbered the devils by a great number, but they made up for it by being greatly durable. Their maximum life span is about 100 times ours. So when the emperor absorbed all those devils, his life span increased to an unknown amount."

"So you're telling me he's still alive?" asked Naruto.

"Not just that, he's actually the one leading our entire continent." answered Teishi.

"But… isn't the emperor just a figurehead? I thought the Shogun controlled everything?" asked Sasuke.

"No, he just made that up for when he got tired of ruling. Not just that, the emperor you're talking about is a fake one. The real emperor's location is known only to the Shogun. He's still very much in control, and that's the problem." said Teishi.

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto.

"He's planning an invasion. He liked the end result of our merge with the devils so much that he decided to do the same with Solaria. And who's going to lead his little project? Why, us of course… we are the emperor's tools after all." said Teishi, bitterness coating his voice.

"Wait, so he's going to…"

"Yeah, he's going to have us fight for him. The god emperor as he calls himself now wants to increase our species strength again. Of course, he's absolutely insane. He hasn't even considered the consequences of such an action. I doubt that we'd survive another of his little projects… that is, if we win against Solaria in the first place."

"What do we do?" asked Naruto, impending doom making him anxious to act.

"For now, nothing… stop yelling! I already have a plan; we just have to wait until you become Hokage to start. Besides, it'll take him years to even think about starting his invasion. All you two have to do is get stronger, get ready for the day we take them on because he won't be alone. Not by a long shot. So… are you guys in or what?"

"Of course I'm in! We aren't objects and we can't let him use us like we're his toys. He's going down, or my name isn't Uzumaki Naruto!" yelled Naruto.

"Great, I knew you'd do it." said Teishi, smiling.

'Well, you are the one who told me about it and all… and the one who convinced me to help you.'

"How about you Sasuke? You in?"

"You want to attempt an assassination?" asked Sasuke.

"No Sasuke. It's a revolution. I'm not planning on doing this alone. I'm not stupid. You may not know about it but the god emperor has a lot of enemies. They're just too scared to attack him. But one thing you'll learn eventually, more than anything, there is strength in numbers. He cannot take us all and besides I have a side plan, a great one. So just trust me on this one. Are you going to go back on your word so soon, Sasuke?" answered Teishi.

Sasuke grit his teeth as he remembered his promise. "Ok, fine. I'll help you. I wouldn't want my clan to be a part of that."

"Perfect. The first step is now complete. But I should tell you about my side-plan.

You see, all of us are part human and part daemon, but not entirely. Unlike the god emperor our ancestors didn't merge with their devils, they just contained them. Every year, the devils became a little more deeply entrenched inside us. It's gotten to the point where they cannot separate themselves from us. They used to cut themselves off from their captors and wreak havoc around the populace. They can't do that anymore… but that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous… not at all.

About a hundred years ago give or take a couple years, a devil and a human merged fully for the first time. The end result is what we now call a demon. The first to come to existence is the one tail tanuki demon, Shukaku, followed by the two tailed all the way to the nine tailed.

To make a long story short, it's possible for us to achieve unity with ourselves. What we don't want to do is to get rid of the inner devil because that would kill us. The devil isn't bad; it is a part of you just as much as your conscious self is." explained Teishi.

"You want to turn us into demons? Are you insane?" asked Sasuke.

"You didn't let me finish. I don't have evidence, but I know that the demons are a result of the God emperor's experiments. The demons are failures. They are what happen when the devil wins over the human inside and the dark feelings take over your mind. I created the FOX unit and filled it with those that possess strong will, will that will help them defeat their devil and complete the unity. Naruto already went through it once… but his is a special case. He still isn't complete." explained Teishi.

"…Sensei, I have a question. Why do the devils carry such darkness? Are they all like that?" asked Naruto.

"Try to understand Naruto. They've been separated from their families... from reality and trapped in a dark place all alone. Their bodies are gone now but their essence and their feelings remain. Some of them feel endless rage, some feel soul-shattering sadness… and some of them lost their minds. By defeating the devil you will put an end to those feelings. Not just for you, but for your descendants as well." explained Teishi.

"Is that why I feel that way whenever I use the wild chakra?" asked Naruto.

"That's right, the rage comes from the devil inside. You managed to defeat the demon, but the devil is still there." answered Teishi.

"What are you talking about?" asked Sasuke.

"You'll find out eventually… when Naruto decides to tell you all." said Teishi.

"…"

From the sound of Naruto's silence, Sasuke knew it wouldn't be anytime soon.

"Well, that's it for now. Only you two know of this, not even the Hokage knows all this in detail. Don't tell anyone, especially not your teammates. I'll decide when they're ready to know." ordered Teishi.

"What do we do until then?" asked Naruto.

"You just work towards becoming Hokage Naruto. That's what's most important right now. Sasuke, when the time comes I'll hand over command of the FOX unit to you, so be ready. Before all that I want you guys to scout out exceptional shinobi and convince them to join our unit. It doesn't matter if they're genin, chuunin, jounin or even missing-nin, we'll need their help eventually. Even if they're from another village, if you think they're worthy we'll form a coalition. I'll be doing the same. Understood?" asked Teishi.

When he got their affirmatives Teishi nodded and said: "Alright, this briefing is over. We'll meet back here tomorrow for your first training session Sasuke… on second thought; bring your whole unit. I'll have Naruto teach some things to Sakura while we're at it and I need to speak with Kakashi. Dismissed." said Teishi, right before exploding in a puff of smoke.

"Hey Sasuke, when did you figure out that it was a clone?" asked Naruto.

"A few minutes ago. I wasn't sure, but there was a weird… delay whenever he spoke. I wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't heard him talk when we were inside. Do you know when he made the switch?" asked Sasuke.

"Yeah, a few seconds after I came into the clearing, when we weren't paying attention." answered Naruto.

"Tell me, why does he think you can become Hokage?" inquired Sasuke.

"Oh, so you think I can't?"

"That's not it. It's just that he really seems convinced that you will be the one to become Hokage. It's like he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that it will happen." said Sasuke.

"You know, I used to ask him that question. You know what he told me?" said Naruto.

"What?"

"He asked me if it really mattered."

"What did you tell him?"

"Sasuke, I spent my entire life alone and no one ever believed in me. Teishi's the only person who ever truly believed in me and he never even doubted me for a second. Of course it didn't matter why he did it, just the fact that he did was enough." said Naruto.

The was silence for a while before Naruto spoke up again.

"Look Sasuke, I'm really sorry about everything. I thought I had gotten over this a while ago. I promise that nothing like this will happen again… want me to make a blood sacrifice?"

"No. And you shouldn't worry about it… I know what it's like to dislike someone because of what others think or say about them."

Naruto got up and said: "Well, we should go back to the others. I haven't exactly introduced myself."

Sasuke's expression turned deadpan. "They already know who you are Naruto. We were all in the same group last year."

"I know… it's the principle of the thing."

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke walked to the compound in silence, both meditating on Teishi's words. While Sasuke did it alone, Naruto exchanged ideas with Otu. None of them could figure out where Teishi got his information from. When they reached the coliseum, they found it empty with the lights turned off. So they left and headed to their most probable location: The REC center.

When they reached the dorm building, they found the hallway was deserted and the cafeteria lights were closed but they could hear sounds of life coming from the recreational area. When they got there, they could see that only three people were there: Shino, Shikamaru and Sakura.

"Hey guys! How's it… going… why are you staring at me like that?"

Naruto wasn't exactly comfortable with their eyes trying to dig a hole into him. A consequence of his MIST training, whenever he felt someone's eyes on him it felt like he was about to get attacked. Teishi said that it would fade as he spent more time with other people, but he hasn't gotten enough time to adjust.

"Naruto, where were you?" asked Sakura.

"I followed after Teishi and Sasuke."

"What if Nishizaki-san had gotten angry?" asked Shino.

"If he didn't want me to listen in then he would've done a better job at hiding his tracks." said Naruto.

"Naruto… you're too irresponsible." said Sakura.

"Nah, Teishi's never gotten mad at me. Ever. Even though we spent the last year training." said Naruto.

"…So that's where you went. Who is he anyway?" asked Shikamaru.

"He's… someone." answered Naruto.

"You don't know?" asked Shino.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and said: "He never told me."

"And yet you still went training with him?" questioned Shikamaru, eyebrows raised and unbelieving.

"Hey, just because I don't know what he used to be doesn't mean I don't know who he is now. I trust him. The Hokage obviously trusts him too if he let him build this place. So lay off, Shikamaru." said Naruto, ever defensive of Teishi.

"Okay, okay. No need to get so worked up about it." Shikamaru disliked arguments, so he gave up pretty easily.

"Where is everyone?" asked Sasuke.

"Oh! Sasuke-kun, I didn't see you there. The others went to tell their parents about everything and to pick up their things to get ready to move in." answered Sakura, also getting up from her seat and approaching Sasuke.

"Really? Who's moving in?" asked Naruto.

"Everyone. We decided that it wouldn't be good if some people didn't mesh as well with the group because they didn't live with us… is that okay with you guys?" asked Sakura.

"Heh, I kind of have to stay here either way. I know my landlord must've given my apartment away by now so I really don't have anywhere else to live." explained Naruto.

"Oh… um…" mumbled Sakura, uncomfortable with the revelation.

"Don't worry about it, Sakura. I'm fine with it. And Sasuke's living with us too." said Naruto.

"What gave you that idea?" asked Sasuke.

"Easy, you live alone, you love training and you aren't an idiot. The conclusion was pretty easy to make. Besides, you won't be living here all the time... Just at night." said Naruto.

Sasuke made that noise he makes when he wants to dismiss people and the subject was closed.

"…You guys took too long, I wanted us to get to know each other." said Sakura.

"We can always go out to eat ramen. That's a great way to get to know each other!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Well… I guess we could… Are you coming with us Sasuke-kun?" Sakura's voice had this hopeful tinge to it that no one could possibly resist.

"No. I'm going to get my stuff." Well… everyone except Sasuke that is.

"Actually, we have something else to do right now… right Kakashi-sensei?" said Naruto as Sasuke was heading out the door.

"That's right… Naruto." said Kakashi as he stepped into the room. He was having a hard time hiding his surprise. He hadn't put forth any particular effort in staying hidden, but Naruto's detection ability was beyond any other genin.

"Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke. Follow me." said Kakashi before he started walking down the hallway. Not having any other choice, the trio followed after him after Naruto and Sakura said goodbye to Shikamaru and Shino.

* * *

Hey, did that surprise you guys? I hope it did. If you're wondering where Naruto got the idea to defeat the god emperor. It has everything to do with what he said when he was a genin. If I remember correctly, he said : **I will change that idea of shinobi.** He was talking about the idea that shinobi are tools. To stop being tools, he has to get rid of the user. Do me a favor and tell me what you think! 


	5. Chapter 4

Hey, Nice to see you guys. I decided to post this chapter today because it just so happens that this is my birth date.(Even though originally, this chapter was also supposed to contain the entire Wave arc... oh well, it would've been too long anyway) The only present I need from you guys is some reviews, as that lets me know what you think about my fic. To answer a question, I already have a pairing in mind for Naruto(It should become throughly obvious in this chapter.) but everyone else will remain bachelors(and bachelorettes) for the time being.

Let me know if you find any errors in any chapter. Since I do my beta-ing myself, if you guys don't tell me then they'll remain there until I decide to revise the fic.

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

Kakashi led the three of the through the forest in awkward silence. Kakashi and Sakura were eying both Naruto and Sasuke, but for different reasons. Kakashi did it because he wanted to discover what the boys were thinking so intently about while Sakura…

She was eying Sasuke because she was worried about him. It seemed to her that his meeting with Teishi had troubled him a great deal. She wanted to ask him what was wrong but fear of rejection stalled her act. And she didn't even know how to act around Naruto anymore. Her previous impression of him depicted him as an annoying brat who would never get past genin… but now…

She tried to make up excuses for what had happened earlier… maybe Sasuke had been tired or if he had been using jutsu then he would've won… but the truth remained the same. Naruto was stronger than Sasuke which, in her inexperienced young mind, translated to Naruto was the strongest genin. Her vision of the world had just been seriously shaken… and she didn't know how to make it steady.

As for Sasuke and Naruto, they were alternatively meditating about their new responsibilities and observing the jounin who was leading them. Naruto was also keeping track of his surroundings, even as he was discussing with Oturan and other than a few birds in their nests, Naruto couldn't detect anyone else in the near vicinity.

'**This man is too conspicuous for my tastes… What is he trying to accomplish?**

Tch… Don't ask me, I don't even know what he's doing in our unit.

**What is his name again? **

Hatake Kakashi… Didn't Teishi mention something about him before?

**Yes… I believe that he is the Yondaime Hokage's remaining student. **

What happened to the others?

**One was an Uchiha… he was KIA. The other was a medic-nin from the sannin's medical division. **

Which one?

**Tsunade. Naruto, you really should have paid further attention to what Teishi was saying. **

That's your job, Otu. You dealt with the information and I made sure we survived. Anyway, what happened to Hatake's teammate?

**Don't change the subject. I make an effort to fight every once in a while, you should at least try to pay attention. **

Fine. Can we please get back to the walking cyclops over there?

**Cyclops? Why do you call him that? **

Well, I was going to say statue, but he's darker than that so I said cyclops.

**Don't you mean a gargoyle? **

…Oh yeah… What the hell's a cyclops then?

**I don't know… this isn't the first time this has happened… do you think this is one of the Kyuubi's memories? **

Maybe… it could be a race of daemon? What were the other ones?

**Between us both we mentioned an Elf, a Titan, an Ogre, a Troll and an Oni so far. You can add cyclops to that list now. **

That reminds me, how did Teishi get some information like that?

**I don't know. I'm guessing he was serious when he said that we weren't ready to hear his past yet. **

We need to… Otu? Is it just me or did we stop moving?

**…It appears as though you are right.' **

* * *

"Uh… What'd you say again?" asked Naruto, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. He looked around and noticed they were in a large clearing. They hadn't walked long, so they were still pretty close to the dormitory.

As Kakashi's eye locked on him, Naruto got the unmistakable feeling that Kakashi didn't like him.

"I said that I didn't agree with Nishizaki-san's way of doing things. We've always tested our students by ourselves and I am fully resolved to do as such. The only reason I even joined this unit is because Hokage-sama asked me to." repeated Kakashi.

"You mean he forced you. Right?" said Naruto with an impish grin. He'd always had the bad habit of intentionally riling up those who didn't like him.

"No, that is not what I mean." said Kakashi, his voice as unemotional as ever.

"Oh sure, he probably really asked you… but you know as well as I do that it was a request you couldn't refuse. Teishi taught me a while ago, that since we were a militaristic organization and not a democracy, that subordinates could not disobey a direct order. Really, if he seriously wanted you in this unit, then there's nothing you or anyone else could do about it." said Naruto.

"That's not true, Naruto. The council could…" interrupted Sakura.

"No they can't, they are a council, not an assembly. The council members are there to aid the Hokage when he is in doubt, not to second guess his decisions. Trust me on this one Sakura-chan." said Naruto.

Before she could respond, Kakashi interrupted with a loud cough.

"As I was saying, I'll have you do a little test before I'll allow myself to teach you." He reached into his utility pouch and took out two bells. "You see these bells? Your goal is to take them from me." said Kakashi.

"You want us to take two bells from you?" asked Sasuke.

"Yes and I expect you to come with intent to kill. It's the only way you'll succeed." said Kakashi.

"But sensei! You'll be in danger!" exclaimed Sakura.

"You want us to attack you with intent to kill… you must have a death wish." affirmed Naruto, the impish smile still in place.

"You know kids; in this world those with no talent often bark the loudest… Well, let's ignore the fool over there and begin, shall we?" said Kakashi, in an obvious attempt to stir Naruto into anger.

After the comment, Naruto stopped any and all movement and froze in position. With his arms folded behind his head, his weight held up primarily by his right leg, an impish smile and his eyes screwed shut to form the expression that Teishi has dubbed 'fox grin'. Naruto stayed in that position for a few seconds before moving… slowly. The smile was the first thing to go… it's disappearance from his visage strangely resembled the image of a sunset. He then untangled his arms, hung them limply at his sides and shifted his weight so his upper body rested on both legs. He slowly lifted his eyelids and said in a soft tone of voice that belied his true feelings.

"Ok. You want me to come at you with intent to kill? Ok, fine. Just don't blame me if you wind up dead… because of an accident… Kakashi-sensei." said Naruto, right before he started channeling the wild chakra.

When Naruto froze, everyone's eyes centered on him. As he changed position, they watched him intently for any sudden movements. As he spoke, they listened intently in an attempt to reveal his course of action. Nothing however, could've prepared them for that.

The chakra didn't affect everyone in the same way, because it was a manifestation of Naruto's deepest feelings. Back when it was owned by the Kyuubi, it transmitted rage because that was what the Kyuubi felt towards everyone. But Naruto felt far more than just rage, he felt all the emotions that a being is capable of feeling and the chakra transmitted that.

The feeling that was transmitted to Sasuke was one of respect, something that translated to rivalry… and maybe a little friendship.

The feeling that was transmitted to Kakashi was similar to the one he had felt 12 years before… full of rage. But somehow, it was less oppressive and there was far less killing intent. It was replaced by an intense desire to prove itself strong.

The feeling that was transmitted to Sakura was unlike anything she had ever felt before. It spoke to her, comforted her and promised her that no harm would come to her. It hit her so hard that it took her breath away and flushed her face. She didn't know how to react, so she just closed her eyes and basked in the feeling's glow.

But there was one thing that they all felt, everyone that's ever felt this chakra… and that was power. Some reacted in awe, some in fear and some in greed, but those reactions came from its power. While Sasuke and Kakashi both held a healthy amount of wariness, Sakura was completely unafraid.

When Naruto took a few steps towards Kakashi, everyone except Sakura tensed in preparation. However, Naruto simply raised his right arm above his head. It was at that point that those who were looking noticed something odd; Naruto's fingernails had lengthened and had become dangerously sharp. They also curved slightly and ended in a point. He opened his hand so the fingers were far apart and curved them so the claws were all pointed in Kakashi's direction. He kept his eyes on Kakashi when he softly said 'Death claw.' and swung his arm diagonally.

And from those five claws came a wave of utter destruction. It was red and somewhat physical as it blurred the image behind it. It dissipated rather quickly, before it could hit the trees but the first ten feet were torn up and the grass was quickly burnt to ashes. Sasuke covered his eyes to protect them in case something came flew to strike them while Sakura stayed unmoving.

Kakashi hadn't expected that, but he was fast enough to dodge the attack by jumping 10 feet back. When he landed, the wave had settled a few feet in front of him. He looked at Naruto to discover that he had his arm parallel to the ground with his fingers held tightly together. Naruto said 'Death Claw' before thrusting his arm in Kakashi's direction.

Once again, a wave of destruction came from Naruto's fingertips. This time however, the hazy attack stayed off the ground and headed directly in Kakashi's direction. Kakashi quickly jumped to the side before the attack reached him. It passed by him and entered the forest, striking many trees and making many of them fall. One tree was hit in a way that made it fall in his direction. He jumped forward to avoid it when he was suddenly attacked by Naruto. He dodged the fist and retaliated by punching Naruto in the face. The punch connected, but Naruto merely rolled with the fist and made a 360 turn and swung his left hand in Kakashi's direction… a newly clawed hand to be precise.

Kakashi's eye widened at the sight and he jumped straight in the air to avoid the wave. Immediately after finishing the first attack, Naruto prepared to use the attack's thrust version when Kakashi was struck by multiple shuriken. He turned to look at Sasuke while the severely impaled log fell to the earth.

"What gives?" asked Naruto.

"In case you don't remember, the point of the exercise isn't to end Kakashi-sensei's life, but to capture the bells. I didn't want you to destroy them." said Sasuke.

"…Huh, I forgot about the bells… I know I can't take him alone, but I can take the bells off of him… but that isn't what I want. What I want is to shove his face into the ground. So how about we cut a deal? You guys help me take him down, and you get the bells in return." said Naruto.

Naruto's little demonstration made him thoroughly aware of the fact that he couldn't take Kakashi either, but with Naruto's help…

"Ok, it's a deal." said Sasuke as he crossed his arms and examined his surroundings for Kakashi.

"Great! How 'bout you Sakura-chan?" asked Naruto.

She opened her eyes a crack and turned her gaze in his direction. "Hmm…?"

"Do you want to join… Sakura-chan, are you okay?" asked Naruto.

It was surreal, in a sense. She could actually feel his worry because it was transmitted to her by that strange chakra.

"Yeah… yeah, I'm okay Naruto." said Sakura.

"Are you sure? You look a little flushed… maybe you have a fever?" asked Naruto. He took a step towards her, but stopped when she shook her head.

"No, I'm fine." Her voice was firm that time, and Naruto took that as a good sign.

"Okay, me and Sasuke are gonna attack Kakashi for the bells. You can have my bell because I just want to beat him into the ground. Anyways, look for opportunities and if he shows an opening, I want you to throw a kunai and separate the bells from his belt, okay?" asked Naruto.

"…Yeah, okay." answered Sakura.

Naruto kept his eyes on her for a while longer, intensifying the feelings that Sakura was receiving. He then nodded once and turned to face Sasuke.

"Alright then Sasuke, our job is to break Kakashi. So use whatever you think is necessary. We don't have the time to think of a good plan because I know he's going to be attacking soon... we're too out in the open. If we get a chance, use some smoke bombs and we'll escape to a better position. Alright?" asked Naruto.

When Sasuke nodded, Naruto turned to a section of the forest and yelled out: "Hey Hatake! Are you just gonna stay there all day? Come over here, I have some things to tell you… Besides, I think you've already noticed the clones haven't you?"

"When did you send use kage bunshin?" asked Sasuke.

"During my first attack, Kakashi wasn't paying attention to me so I made one and had it create others in the forest." answered Naruto.

While they had been talking, Kakashi had jumped out of his hiding spot up a tree and was currently standing a few feet away from them.

"Hatake-san, I'm going to go through this little test of yours… but on one condition." said Naruto.

"What is it?" asked Kakashi.

"Stop holding back, I don't want to beat you and have you say something stupid like 'I didn't lose, I was holding back'. Is that okay with you… Copy-ninja?" said Naruto.

"I see Nishizaki-san has taught you more than how to fight." said Kakashi.

Naruto closed his eyes before answering.

"True. Hatake Kakashi, age 26 also known as Copy-ninja Kakashi and Sharingan Kakashi because you've copied over a thousand techniques with the sharingan you've received from your teammate during a mission 13 years ago. You're the son of Konoha's White Fang; you became a chuunin at age 6 and a jounin at age 13. The only technique you've ever created is named chidori because it creates a sound similar to the chirping of a thousand birds. Your favorite foods are broiled saury with salt and miso soup with eggplant." recited Otu.

Naruto opened his eyes and they were the same blue that they were all used to.

"How does Nishizaki-san know these things?" asked Kakashi, extremely surprised.

"I don't know, why don't you ask him? We wasted too much time. He'll be here soon. Sasuke go. I'll follow." Naruto spoke in short sentences as urgency made him anxious.

Naruto's comment about the sharingan had unnerved Sasuke, but he recognized that this wasn't the time for questions. He nodded before dashing towards Kakashi with Naruto right on his heels. Naruto had noticed that Kakashi had never accepted his terms, but he planned to force Kakashi's hand... violently, if possible.

Sasuke aimed a jump-kick towards Kakashi's neck, but Kakashi caught it and threw him towards Naruto. Naruto ran on his four limbs in order to not lose speed and still avoid Sasuke. Once he reached Kakashi, he threw a hook punch at Kakashi's side. Kakashi blocked it… or rather attempted to block it as the sheer power of the blow broke through the guard and threw Kakashi quite a few feet away. When he landed, he slid another few feet, but when he could, he jumped straight to his feet, just in time to avoid Sasuke's Grand Fireball. For a moment, all stood still.

"I think I cracked a few ribs." said Naruto as he cracked his knuckles.

Kakashi gave him no answer; he just kept his eyes on all three.

"Didn't I tell you? Stop holding back. You'll die otherwise." affirmed Naruto.

Kakashi thought about it. The only way for him to survive is to dodge all their blows… if he had been able to block then things would've been different. But he couldn't protect himself against Naruto's monstrous strength; His ribs' cries of protest told him that. So he has to use his speed to attack while keeping himself from harm… and against three opponents, which required his sharingan.

Naruto was right; he couldn't survive on defense alone. He had to attack.

With his decision made, Kakashi raised his hand and took hold of his forehead protector. Naruto grinned in anticipation.

However, it was not to be.

"Um… Sensei?" They all glanced at Sakura, only to see her holding both bells.

The only sound in the clearing was that of trees burning behind her. The three males all stared at her incredulously as none of them knew how she got the bells.

"…Sakura-chan… how did you… when did you…" Naruto had trouble forming complete sentences in his shock.

"When Kakashi-san was dodging Sasuke's fireball, she aimed and fired a kunai through it. Kakashi couldn't see it because it was concealed by the flame and he was preoccupied by you guys. He couldn't hear it for the same reason and he didn't feel it because Sakura didn't have any killing intent. He didn't pay attention to her moving to pick the bells up because he was too busy observing you two for attacks. She did a good job." answered Teishi from his perch in a tree… one that wasn't burning of course.

"How long have you been there?" asked Kakashi.

"In this tree? A couple minutes. I've been watching you guys for a while though. I made some clones and transformed them into Naruto so you wouldn't know the difference. So, are you satisfied?" said Teishi.

"…Yeah, I would've passed them anyway." said Kakashi as he looked them over.

"Good. Now I have a question for you guys. Why didn't you use your sneaking suits?" said Teishi, swinging one leg in the air.

"Um… I'm sorry sensei. I don't know how to use mine. I haven't looked in the scroll yet." said Sakura, who still looked a little disoriented.

"That's okay Sakura. That wasn't the real point. The point was to make Naruto and Sasuke aware that they had no idea where they put their suits and that was a complete success. See, I know where your suits are, mostly because I stole them, but I would've given them back to you if you had remembered to check for them. You didn't, so I hid both your suits somewhere in this forest. Since I won't allow any of you to complete missions without them, you'd better hurry up and find them. Hope this'll teach you to pay attention to your surroundings. See you later, Alpha unit." The Teishi clone gave them a slight grin before exploding into smoke.

The silence that he left behind was roughly broken by Naruto's stomp. As he was still wild, that stomp caused a small earthquake and created a crater around Naruto's foot.

"Oops, I forgot about that." said Naruto, before cutting off the wild chakra's circulation. Almost immediately, Sakura lost her previously dazed expression. Her blush didn't budge though. Kakashi noticed all this and planned to talk to Naruto about it later.

"Dammit, why does Teishi always do things like this? Well, I'm NOT going to spend the next 4 hours looking for them." yelled Naruto.

"We don't have a choice, Naruto. If we don't find them, we can't do any missions." muttered Sasuke, not any more pleased than Naruto. Naruto just grinned in response.

"Hey, I never said that I wouldn't find them, I just said that I wouldn't look for them." Following that sentence, Naruto held his index and middle fingers from both hands together and held them in a cross position. Once the handseal was complete, he yelled out 'Tajuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu!' and the area surrounding them was filled by Naruto clones. There were over a thousand in various positions in and around the clearing.

"Find it, make more clones if necessary." said Naruto. Every clone simultaneously nodded before dashing out of the clearing. What surprised everyone besides Naruto was that the move was done with incredible silence. For a mobilization of that size, the only sounds that could be heard were the slight rustling of the cloth and the shifting of leaves.

Naruto dusted his hands off and began to walk towards the dorm. After a few steps, he realized that no one was following him and he turned around to see what was holding them. What met his gaze were three astonished stares. In response he shrugged his shoulders and said:

"What?"

* * *

"So what do you think?"

"What did you do to him?"

"I just did what he wanted."

"And what was that?"

"He wanted… wants to be Hokage. A Hokage has to endure more than any other ninja. To prepare him for that task, I did all I could."

"Stop beating around the bush, he couldn't have improved that much in a year."

Teishi's sudden glare made Kakashi tense in preparation for an attack that wouldn't be coming.

"Hey. Watch what you say Hatake. Any information I divulge is on a need to know basis. You don't need to know. I'm doing you a favor, don't push it. Understood?"

Once he received Kakashi's stiff approval, Teishi continued.

"You're right though, he couldn't have gained such instincts from normal training. In fact, he wouldn't have even gotten as much as normal students from that kind of training. No matter what we do, the only school that'll actually teach him anything worthwhile is the school of hard-knocks. So I devised a training regimen especially made for him, training that took advantage of his special capabilities.

To put it bluntly, I used the first half to cram as much knowledge as possible within him and used the other half to make him apply that knowledge to actual combat." explained Teishi.

"So you made him learn one jutsu after another?" asked Kakashi.

"Not exactly… I made sure he knew the techniques; he wasn't entirely able to perform them. Just knowing them was enough." answered Teishi.

"What did you mean by 'apply that knowledge to combat'?" asked Kakashi, not liking where this was headed.

"Have you heard of MIST training?" asked Teishi.

By the widening of Kakashi's sole eye, Teishi could see that he had mostly figured it out.

"That's right; I spent the remaining six months hunting Naruto over and over again. He had to learn how to hide, hunt, fight and detect me in order to survive. Hunting was pretty easy for him, the rest… took a little longer." said Teishi.

"That was a mistake. By now he's become accustomed to fighting you and only you, and he's bound to make mistakes in real life situations." reprimanded Kakashi.

"You underestimate me Hatake. It's amazing what you can do with Henge and a little imagination… I know enough techniques to be able to… emulate, what a ninja from any village would act like. So I did. On some days, he was under attack by a lone sand shinobi, on others by a cloud-nin assassination squad. Sometimes, he was even attacked by traveling merchants. But he could never attack them first; there was always the possibility that the opponents were authentic." said Teishi.

"I still disagree, by now he must've become disillusioned…" Kakashi started, but Teishi interrupted.

"That would've been a good argument if I had held back. You wouldn't know it from looking at him, but I cut off his various parts of his right arm 26 times, his left 17 times, his left leg 14 and his right one 9. Heh, you haven't seen grit until you've seen Naruto stand and fight with one leg, one arm and two bloody stumps. He lost his left eye 13 times, his right 6 and both on three occasions. He's learned what it's like to breathe with a sword through his lung. He stopped screaming after the first week and he stopped reacting altogether after the first month. I wasn't beating on him Kakashi; I was trying to kill him. I tried to get his heart, his throat and his brain but those were the only spots I could never hit, although I probably just wasn't trying hard enough.

We tested his limits together. It took 38 hours of constant battle for him to run out of chakra, and by the way, we learned that his healing slows down quite a bit when he's out of it. By the fifth month of MIST, we had fights every three days because that's how long it took me to find him. And when we did fight, I gave it my all. Because as I'm sure you've figured out, going on the defensive against him is suicide.

Trust me; he has no illusions on real battle." said Teishi.

There was a tense silence in Teishi's office after that revelation. Kakashi's eye had widened in horror at the acts that had taken place, before they narrowing in disgust.

"I have misjudged you Nishizaki-san. I thought that you cared for the boy, but you aren't any better than the villagers." said Kakashi.

Truthfully, there was nothing that could've alerted him of his mistake. Teishi didn't react in any way. And yet… Kakashi knew that he had said something bad, something that Teishi would never forget and would always hold against him… always. Even if he never said anything about it, Kakashi knew that he had irreparably damaged something. Something precious.

"Hatake-san." Teishi's voice was the picture of civility, but Kakashi couldn't help but feel the chill that deposited itself in the pit of his stomach.

"I know it may seem as if I don't care about Naruto, but I assure you that I only have his best interests in mind. You don't know what it's like to do something so painful for his greater good. Every cut I gave him, every bruise… let alone the critical hits… all of them hurt me in a way you cannot imagine… You look confused Hatake-san. Perhaps you are wondering why I don't look very torn up about it. That's a question with an easy answer. You see Hatake-san, unlike you, when something hurts me terribly; I **_deal with it_** and **_move on_**. I don't stay tied down by memories of a dead father, a dead comrade or a dead teacher, decades after their deaths. No, I don't waste hours at a stupid stone _every_ day, daydreaming about what life could've been, what life would've been, what life should've been and yet stay in place, while life moves on around me. Hatake, you have **_no right to judge me._** I would recommend you never do so again. Dismissed." said Teishi, before opening a desk drawer and taking out some blueprints.

Kakashi stood in shocked silence, while Teishi seemingly completely ignored his presence. After a minute spent just standing there, he walked to the exit and opened the door when he heard Teishi's voice.

"Oh, and by the way, don't bother coming in tomorrow. There's something I need to tell the first Unit." said Teishi, without looking up from his plans. "And if you happen to run into Mitarashi Anko, tell her that I need to examine the cursed seal that Orochimaru gave her. If she tells you that it's been gone for years, tell her that it may be inactive, but it is by no means gone."

Kakashi turned around and stared at Teishi for a long while before stepping out of the office and closing the door.

Once Kakashi left the room, Teishi stopped what he was doing for a moment and immersed himself in his thoughts.

'…Moving on with life? …Unlike you… Hatake-san… I don't have that chance… because I'm living on borrowed time. The time that my sensei has given me… all of us… those rejected and thrown together in that hellhole… He gave us life… so we lived for him… we died for him. His elite. Unlike you… if I let go… there won't be anything…

Although… even if I could give it all up… I wouldn't, because… that would mean… giving up… on life.'

* * *

That night, in the dorm's cafeteria, the FOX unit had its first meal as a team. Everything went well… for a minute. The initial incident was when Naruto asked Asuma to pass the ramen, because he couldn't see it and surely, it couldn't escape the gaze of the tallest person in the room. When he was informed of the ramen's absence, he demanded to know why Teishi had omitted to include ramen in the day's meal. His tirade was interrupted by Kiba, who called him a crybaby in many more words. Naruto snidely responded with an insult that shall not be repeated and a brawl ensued. Teishi's threats stopped them from finishing their fight, but not before Kiba and Akamaru bit Naruto's arms viciously and Naruto punched Kiba in the chest… hard. After Kurenai made sure Kiba could breathe and Hinata gave Naruto some of her healing lotion, the meal resumed. A few minutes later, Naruto asked Asuma to pass the o-shiruko (sweet red bean soup). Once again, he was informed that there was none of that present at the table.

Calmly, Naruto turned to Teishi and asked him why that was. Teishi responded that Naruto needed to eat healthier foods and ordered him to eat some Brussels sprouts. Naruto adamantly refused and the two started a staring contest that would last until Kurenai got enough of their stupidity and ordered them to eat. Teishi reminded Kurenai that he was her commanding officer and was promptly informed that she didn't give a crap. Upon receiving that response, Teishi nodded and said 'I see.' before turning to his plate and continuing his meal, which provoked a sentiment of pity in the males, especially Shikamaru, and amusement in the females, especially Ino. Of course, Naruto couldn't let things end in such a way and demanded to know why Teishi had folded so easily. In response, Kurenai told Naruto to eat some vegetables. Seeing that Naruto was about to refuse, Kurenai launched into a long explanation of why Naruto should eat his vegetables. Mixed in that explanation were various threats and a particularly nasty guilt trip that asked if Naruto didn't enjoy the food that she had cooked, which was a lie. The FOX compound's chef came every day and prepared a meal at 7:00AM, another at 1:00PM and one last at 8:00PM. Of course, the cafeteria was filled with food for the occasion where the members couldn't wait for the meals.

Anyway, the point is that Naruto ate his vegetables and the meal continued without further incident. Other notable points are that Kakashi was discretely staring at Teishi and that Naruto amused himself by stealing everyone's food every now and then. That too was stopped by Kurenai. Shikamaru and Chouji spent their meals in idle conversation, Hinata tried to work up the nerve to speak to Naruto and failed and Sasuke was eating with as much dignity as he could muster which was impeded by Sakura and Ino who were each trying to feed Sasuke. Shino was doing the same as Sasuke with far more success, Kiba spent all his time glaring at Naruto and Asuma tried to light multiple cigarettes but was foiled every single time by various members of the dinner table.

After the meal, Teishi forced them all to move into the REC center and watch some TV. Team-bonding time is what he called it.

"What the hell are they doing?" asked Naruto.

"It appears that they are dancing." answered Shino.

"I can see that, but why are they doing it so badly? As a matter of fact, why are they dancing at all? They were in a store buying some stuff and they saw a cute girl. How is that an excuse to erupt in spontaneous singing and dancing?" asked Naruto.

"Shut up Naruto! The Backalley Fellows (Heh. Funny.) are the hottest boy band around! They're number one on all the hit charts!" yelled Ino.

"So? How does that make them any good? Who the hell votes on hit charts anyway? Ok, I can see you don't believe me. Let's take a vote. Whoever thinks the Backalley Fellows are either insane or gay raise their hand." said Naruto.

Naruto, Kiba, Teishi, Sasuke, Shino and Kurenai were the first to raise their hands. However, once the others saw Kurenai's hand lift, they established that they had a relatively low chance of getting assaulted because of their opinions and raised their hands. The only ones with their hands down were Ino, Sakura and Hinata… but that's because Hinata is too nice to think badly of anyone.

"Kurenai-sensei?" exclaimed Ino and Sakura in shock.

"What? I'm sorry but those boys aren't exactly the picture of masculinity. Who knows what you girls see in them." answered Kurenai.

"Anyway, this sucks so I'm changing the channel." said Naruto before he changed the channel to something he thought everyone could enjoy: the world taijutsu tournament.

"Oh YEAH!" yelled Kiba as he got closer to the TV.

"See Ino? This is real TV. It's entertaining and yet… educational. You don't have to thank me, I just did what I wanted to do." said Naruto with a smug smile.

Ino just grit her teeth in annoyance as she realized that everyone was actually enjoying the broadcast. She decided to leave the room before she snapped and unleashed a wave of pain on Naruto. She got up and was about to leave but stopped and asked Sakura to come with her. She ignored Sakura's confused look and walked to her room and after a few seconds, she could hear Sakura's footsteps echoing in the hallway behind her.

Ino entered her room, numbered 401, and sat on the bed waiting. When Sakura entered, she politely asked her to close the door. Once that was done, Sakura turned and asked:

"What's this all about Ino-pig?"

Ino stared at Sakura for a few seconds, making sure she wasn't mistaken about her observations.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong or am I going to have to force it out of you?" asked Ino.

"Wha… What are you talking about?" asked Sakura.

"You've been staring at Naruto all night. And don't deny it, I'm sure that I'm not the only one who noticed." said Ino.

There was a moment of silence caused by Sakura's embarrassment at the situation.

"Do you… do you think he noticed?" asked Sakura.

"Nah. He was too busy being a pain to notice much of anything." answered Ino.

"…Good…" Sakura let out a sigh of relief on that confirmation.

* * *

Back in the REC.

"So… Did anyone else notice Sakura-chan staring at me all night? What'd I do?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah, she looked a little odd when I saw her during the fight." said Teishi.

"Fight? What fight?" asked Kiba.

"Hatake-san had the first unit complete a test earlier. The goal was to acquire two bells and Sakura got both of them because Naruto and Sasuke were more focused on beating Hatake-san." answered Teishi.

"Really?" asked both Asuma and Kurenai.

"Yep. That reminds me, how are your ribs Hatake-san?" asked Teishi.

"They'll be okay in a few days." answered Kakashi.

"What happened to them?" asked Asuma.

"Naruto threw a hook. Kakashi tried to block it but wasn't aware that it wasn't a good idea. So Naruto broke through the block like wet paper and broke a couple of ribs in the process." answered Teishi.

"How many did I break?" asked Naruto.

"Three." answered Kakashi.

"Heh. Don't say I didn't warn you though." said Naruto with another of his impish smiles.

"Anyway, what could've made her look so distracted in the middle of a fight? Did you use a genjutsu on her Hatake-san?" asked Teishi.

"No… She just started looking dazed when Naruto used…" answered Kakashi.

"When Naruto went wild? That's odd. Why would… oh… OH!" said Teishi.

"What? What is it?" asked Naruto, worried that he was responsible for Sakura's state.

"Uh… Naruto. Remember what I told you about the wild chakra transmitting what you feel to your opponent? I forgot to tell you that it also transmits what you feel to anyone in the vicinity." answered Teishi.

"So she felt my anger at Kakashi?" said Naruto, horrified.

"Uh… no. I should've clarified. See, when you go wild, you transmit whatever you feel about a person to that person. Do you understand what I'm saying?" explained Teishi.

"Huh? What do you mean by… oh… OH!" said Naruto.

Everyone could see Naruto blush as embarrassment to a degree he had never known before took hold of him. He then held his face in his hands and said crap over and over again while the others just looked confused.

"Why does that happen?" asked Kakashi.

"Its purpose is to clearly separate allies from enemies. If I'm right, then she should've looked completely fearless. That's because Naruto expressed both power and an intense desire to protect her. Sasuke should've been without fear as well but far more cautious. You should've felt some fear or at least extreme wariness." answered Teishi.

"So that's why…" said Sasuke.

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Shikamaru.

"Nothing… We've said too much already." said Teishi.

And the topic was closed.

"Oh yeah… That reminds me. Did you have something to tell me Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto.

Taken by surprise, she could only deny the affirmation by shaking her head vehemently.

"…Ok." said Naruto.

And the subject was dropped.

* * *

The next morning, after breakfast, the first unit found itself in a clearing of the training area. Naruto and Sasuke weren't feeling very jolly because of the fiasco that involved the shower. You need only know that it involved bugs, fur and toothpaste.

"Alright Sasuke, you're with me. Naruto, you and Sakura do some chakra control exercises." said Teishi.

"…ok…" Naruto's enthusiasm knew no bounds.

"Alright, watch carefully Sasuke. This is my taijutsu style. It's called the…"

'Hmm… I guess I can't call it by its real name… Uzumaki army taijutsu style. Why did you always name your techniques after yourself?'

"…Shadow Edge style. It's a variant of the style my sensei created." said Teishi.

Teishi raised his hands, showed his palms to Sasuke and used his chakra to reveal something that only Naruto had seen. It was an intricate seal, written in such a way that it formed a spiral.

"Watch." said Teishi.

Suddenly, shadow escaped from the seal and formed the shape of a kunai.

"This is every bit as sharp as a normal kunai, but it's better if you don't use it in this form." said Teishi, before making the shadow kunai look like a normal kunai.

"The entire fighting style is based on the transformation and usage of the shadow. Since it isn't entirely physical, the transformation cannot be detected by the sharingan." explained Teishi.

"But, what is the shadow?" asked Sasuke.

"It's the same thing that Kage bunshin are made of." answered Teishi.

"Won't the weapons dispel as soon as they get damaged then?" asked Sasuke.

"Yeah, but you're getting the wrong idea. It's easy to damage a kage bunshin because the shadow emulates flesh. It's far harder to damage a kage sword because it emulates steel. Get it?" asked Teishi.

"Yeah, I get it." said Sasuke.

"Good. One day my sensei tried to make a kage bunshin made of steel. What do you think happened?" asked Teishi.

"It couldn't move." answered Sasuke.

"That's right. While he could make a Kage bunshin that was wearing armor, he couldn't make one that was made entirely of steel. So he began to use more and more kage weapons in battle. One day, he got the idea to give his kage bunshin kage weapons. He created 150 kage bunshin and armed 40 of them with melee weapons like spears and swords. He had 100 of them transform into arrows and had the last 10 shoot those arrows with their kage bows. Since the arrows were actually kage bunshin, they could transform back and forth between the two. Later, he learned bakuretsu kage bunshin and all hell broke loose. Imagine that in that situation, all those arrows were able to explode." said Teishi.

"That's incredible… but, wouldn't that take a great amount of chakra?" asked Sasuke.

"That's right. I don't think you understand just how much chakra is really needed to do all that I said. Truthfully, the only one in Konoha with that much chakra is Naruto, but he still lacks the control to use his chakra efficiently. That's why I created this Kage seal. What it does is that it directly creates the shadow, so you don't have to use kage bunshin and henge. The bad thing is that weapons created with the seals lose the ability to transform into kage bunshin. To use this technique well, you need to have a good grasp on the weapons you use. So we're going to be focusing on that at the beginning." explained Teishi.

"But doesn't the technique lose a lot of its effectiveness with the seal?" asked Sasuke.

"That's only if you use it in a certain way. The true greatness of the technique lies in its ability to change the weapon at any time. For example, let's say that I'm using a sword against you and I'm in the middle of a downwards slice, and you jump back to avoid it. With the seal, I have the ability to modify the shadow weapon in any way I see fit. I could easily lengthen the sword for it to reach you." answered Teishi.

"I see." said Sasuke.

"Trust me, when you know how to use this technique, it becomes incredibly powerful." said Teishi.

"Does Naruto know this technique?" asked Sasuke.

"Nope. I don't know if I want him to know it either. It just doesn't fit with his fighting style. I'd rather he learned the original version, and that doesn't require the seal. Come back here tomorrow and I'll…" explained Teishi.

Teishi was interrupted by the sound of a vicious hit. He turned just in time to see Sakura stomp off towards the dorms. A second later, he heard her yell:

"Naruto, you ass!"

He looked back at Naruto and saw him laid out on the ground, with a large bruise on his face. He sighed and walked to him.

"What did you do?" asked Teishi.

"I didn't do anything, I just asked her why she was staring at me last night." said Naruto, rubbing his already disappearing bruise.

Teishi sighed once more and patiently explained to Naruto why it was a bad idea to bluntly expose something that someone else was probably embarrassed about. Naruto expressed his lack of understanding at the situation and Teishi reminded Sasuke that he probably wouldn't have done any better. Sasuke denied the accusation and Teishi explained that ignoring the situation was the same as running away which was even worse then what Naruto did. They spent the next ten minutes arguing on that before heading inside for lunch.

* * *

A few hours later, inside the administrative building, we find the entire FOX unit assembled for a mission briefing.

"Instead of standard D rank missions, you'll all be graded on your performance of certain tasks that I will give you. To pass the mission, you need to get a passing grade. The missions must be executed in the team specified. If the mission is to be completed in a team, then the team score is what is important. I'll still note an individual score though." said Teishi before handing out scrolls.

"Your task for today is to execute the most grandiose prank you can and evade the backlash for as long as possible. You can only target or attract the attention of Konoha shinobi." said Teishi.

There was dead silence as the genin tried to wrap their minds around what Teishi was saying.

"You have 3 hours. Half your grade depends on the quality of your prank and the other half on how long your team manages to keep from being captured. To get a passing grade you need to evade your pursuers for at least 90 seconds. To get 85, you need to evade them for a full 5 minutes and to get a perfect score, you need to lose them completely or avoid them for half an hour." briefed Teishi.

Since Naruto was the only one unaffected by the mission parameters, he was the only one that could say anything.

"That's not fair, not everyone's going to get the same amount of people chasing them." said Naruto.

"I know, but being inconspicuous is also a skill." reasoned Teishi.

"Nishizaki-san, what… is the purpose of this exercise?" asked Shino.

"It measures ingenuity, teamwork and the ability to evade pursuers." answered Teishi. He saw that some of them were about to complain so he interrupted them.

"Before you all start to complain, let me say one thing. You're not obligated to do the mission, but if you don't it'll count as a failure. To participate in the upcoming chuunin exams, you need to have 8 missions or objectives completed and have an average score of 75. 74 won't cut it, and a zero will seriously hurt your score." warned Teishi.

"Anyway, whether you do it or not is up to you. The instructors will be watching those who participate. Good luck." said Teishi, before leaving the room.

**_3 hours, thirty minutes and a visit to the Hokage's office later… _**

"Well, you guys did well today.

The third unit gets a score of 82. Shino's use of his kikai bugs was quite humorous.

Shino lasted 3:22 seconds.

Kiba lasted 2:26 seconds.

And Hinata was never caught.

The second unit gets a score of 85. Shikamaru's use of his kagamane technique was hilarious, while Ino's use of her shintenshin was classic.

Ino lasted 1:56 seconds but was eventually rescued by Shikamaru.

Chouji lasted 2:31 seconds but was eventually rescued by Shikamaru and Ino.

Shikamaru lasted 6:28 seconds.

The first unit gets a perfect score. Naruto's… artistic improvement of the Hokage monument attracted far more attention than any other prank.

Sasuke was never pursued.

Sakura was never pursued.

Naruto lasted 42 minutes and 16 seconds. He was caught by one Maito Gai who granted him a wonderful speech about the danger of having too much youthful energy.

All of you meet here in tomorrow for another test. See you then."

* * *

**_A week later. _**

'I thought so… This technique really suits him. I need to increase their training. We're running out of time.'

Teishi was watching over Sasuke's progress in the newly christened Shadow Edge style while Naruto was working on controlling his wild chakra. He was currently attempting to perform the tree-climbing exercise while wild… he wasn't having much success though. Sakura was with Kurenai, to learn how to use some basic genjutsu.

Sasuke had received a single seal on his right hand, any more would've been too hard for him to control. Teishi himself could control seven seals, one in each hand, one on each leg, one on his back, one on his chest and one on his forehead.

So far, Sasuke could create the shadow mass equivalent of 50 kunai or 10 swords before getting tired. Teishi estimated that that number would double once he increased his chakra control. He and Naruto had also taken lessons under Asuma to increase their proficiency with weapons.

Teishi knew that he only had a month left before the beginning of the chuunin exams and he wanted to make the preparations needed. He had already established his strategy and had Gunshou subtly create an elite strike force. The Hokage had approved of their plan of action. It was already decided, once Orochimaru stepped into Konoha, he would never be able to leave. His seals would make sure of that. They'd have to rebuild some sections of the city, but it would be worth it.

* * *

**_The next day in the administration building. _**

Teishi was going through that day's C class missions, as he had every day since he created the unit. He thought that it was about time for that mission to appear, and he was right.

'There it is… Bridge builder Tazuna's request for low-level protection. Zabuza and Haku versus Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi… and Kakashi.'

Teishi looked to his right, to where Naruto was completing some paperwork to practice for the day when he'll become Hokage… although truthfully, it was because Teishi had no desire to do it himself.

"…Naruto, how would you like to lead your first mission?"

* * *

Watch out for the next chapter! It shall contain the entire wave arc. Right after that comes the most exciting chapter yet... the chuunin examination. You should forget everything you know about that exam, it won't happen that way.


	6. Chapter 5

Originally, I planned to do the entire Wave arc in a single chapter, but then I realized that it's just too damn long. So this is all I'll post. This is by far the longest chapter I've ever written. I hope you guys enjoy it. I also hope this chapter answers some questions.

* * *

"You're sending these super brats to protect me? They all look so super useless. Especially that suuuuper stupid looking one." said Tazuna, his speech slurring slightly 

When Teishi asked Naruto to lead his next mission, Naruto wasn't very enthusiastic. However, when he learned that it would be a C class mission and that he would actually have to leave the village, he became incapable of sitting still for any length of time. His mind filled with dreams of grandeur and of his own greatness in battle to the point that it became necessary for him to have cool-down spars with the instructors.

When Asuma and Kurenai's tag-team beat enough of his excitement out of him, he ran towards the REC room to tell his comrades of the great news. Unfortunately for both of them, Shikamaru was the only one in there. Not only that, he was taking a nap.

5 minutes, a rude awakening and a brief yelling match later, the walking mound of pure excitement headed off to the administration office to meet with his teammates. He strode into the room with gracefulness worthy of a leader. To the eyes of Teishi, Sasuke and Sakura he practically leaked satisfaction.

Upon hearing his charge's response to discovering who would be protecting him, Naruto happiness shattered into thousand pieces. He tried to rebuild his happiness with the broken pieces, but he couldn't put them back in the proper order. In the end, he could only create 2 different pictures. One was of disappointment and the other was anger. He hoped that putting them together would somehow bring his happiness back, but it only created hostility towards Tazuna.

Naruto tried to approach the situation with calm and maturity, but it was a losing battle. Fortunately for all of them, those who were present had noticed the ticking time bomb that was Naruto. Tazuna shut up while Teishi worked on calming Naruto down.

A minute later, Teishi had the situation under control. He turned to Tazuna and told him:

"Tazuna-san, I assure you that these three are more than capable of handling your request. The village's council estimated the mission's difficulty level to C so the chances that you'll actually be attacked are pretty low." He noticed Tazuna's discomfort multiply after hearing that remark and he knew that Naruto noticed as well.

"But, since I know of the wave country's current economical situation, the council could be wrong. That's why I chose to let my Alpha unit take care of your mission. These three may be inexperienced, but I know they'll be able to handle most opposition they might encounter." reassured Teishi.

Tazuna discomfort turned into suspicion after hearing that comment. He wasn't sure if Teishi knew about Gatou or if he just meant that the lack of wealth in his country created an increase in the number of bandits in the area. He wouldn't get a confirmation from Teishi's blank expression.

"Tch… might as well get going. I want to end this as soon as possible." Naruto may have calmed down, but that didn't mean that he would enjoy spending who knows how long with the alcoholic idiot.

"Not yet, I was waiting for you to figure it out, but you're never going to remember. So let me jog your memory, do you remember the day we came back to this village? Do you remember when I gave you all your suits? Tell me, was your bundle any different from the others?" questioned Teishi.

"…Wasn't there a… You stole it didn't you."

It wasn't a question. They all knew it to be true.

"Of course I did, I knew you'd use kage bunshin to find it so I hid the sword behind a special seal. Your kage bunshin couldn't see it and you forgot about it." Teishi reached under his cloak and took out a storage scroll. Teishi molded a little chakra and released the seal. He then threw the sword to Naruto. Naruto unsheathed the sword and observed it.

The hilt was about 10 inches in length with a leather grip and no pommel. The guard was perpendicular to the hilt and made of thick steel. The blade was a meter long and four inches wide. The cutting edge was longer than the other so the end formed a right triangle. It didn't look very sharp and was far heavier than it looked. He'd need both hands to wield it normally, but he knew he'd be able to bear the weight easily while wild.

"I had the blade made while we were gone. We had to sacrifice speed and cutting power for resistance, otherwise it wouldn't last a day. It weights 40 kilos so it's about 50 times heavier than a speed sword because it's made of ultra-solid grade steel so you can use your full power without it cracking… Actually, I think it's almost as heavy as you are. You won't have to sharpen it very often. I also had seal script inscribed in one of the sword's lower layers so you can use your death claw ability with it. Oh yeah, the sheath and the hilt are also synchronized with your chameleon suit so they'll camouflage at the same time. All in all it's an okay sword, we'll have to get you a better one later though." explained Teishi.

Naruto nodded and strapped the sheath on his back before putting the sword in it.

"Can we go now?" It seems his mood lifted a little when he received his sword.

"Just a second." said Teishi before stepping closer to Naruto and making his hair even messier than it already was.

"Hey! Quit it!" yelled Naruto but not making any move to make Teishi stop.

"Take care of yourself, you hear me? What kind of Hokage gets himself killed on his first mission? Sakura, make sure Naruto doesn't do anything stupid okay? If he gets provoked and decides to start a fight somewhere then stop him. He'll listen to you." said Teishi.

"Um… Alright, I'll do my best." said Sakura.

"Sasuke, take care of your comrades but be sure to let them take care of you too. There's no shame in needing help every once in a while. If Naruto bites off more than he can chew then I want you to help him. Even a small distraction will be enough for Naruto to take the upper hand. Understood?"

When he saw Sasuke nod, he stepped back and said:

"Good. Just a couple more things before you can go and get your stuff. First, Naruto, you have to remember the mission above the fight. Protect Tazuna. You two have to follow what Naruto says in a battle situation, even if it doesn't make sense at first. He doesn't look like it but he has a great tactical mind underneath that hair of his and he'll notice things the two of you might miss. You can trust him with your lives and I say that because I would do the same. Sasuke, Naruto, I believe there is the possibility to acquire bonus points in this mission but I'll trust your judgment on that one. Take care of yourselves." said Teishi before seeing the Alpha team walk out of his office in the administration building.

A few minutes later, he sent a message to Sarutobi with enough information on the mission to change it for an A or S rank. He also put in a notice that he and Kakashi would deploy soon. His last sentence was a request to meet Gunshou to gather some important information.

* * *

Three hours later, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Tazuna were heading towards their destination in idle conversation. After learning that Naruto would lead them and being the target of his rage, Tazuna learned not to provoke Naruto. After Sakura scolded him for being 'such an idiot', Naruto stopped growling in response to the man's queries. At this point, they were actually able to hold a conversation that didn't consist entirely of traded insults. 

Naruto was walking backwards in front of Tazuna and Sakura and Sasuke were on either side of the old man. To an outside observer, they looked just like children taking a walk with their grandfather, although that image was heightened by their lack of weapons and forehead protectors. Naruto had them hide their stuff inside their suit scrolls so that they'd appear when they used the summoning technique. He reasoned that they would gain the element of surprise that way and since no one could put up a convincing argument, they did what he asked.

"So, you're a bridge builder Tazuna-san?" asked Sakura.

"Yes, I'm the greatest bridge builder in my country. I have designed and created over a 150 bridges of all shapes and sizes. My current project will be my greatest creation." said Tazuna.

"Really? Why is that?"

"Because it's carrying all of our hopes and dreams. When the bridge is completed, there'll be no need to pay shipping companies to get access to the other countries. Every citizen had put everything into this bridge and…"

"We're being followed." interrupted Naruto.

No one looked surprised.

"What do we do?" asked Sakura.

"For now, nothing. You don't need to worry about them hearing us, they're too far away. They can see us though so no sudden movements." said Naruto with a huge grin.

"How many?" asked Sasuke with his usual expression.

"Two of them, adults of medium height, shinobi. They look like they're experienced, and their weapons are soaked in poison. It's pretty weak but we don't have any antidote on us so make sure you don't get hit. I don't know what their target is, but I have a feeling it's Tazuna. They haven't detected me yet so I think I can take them out."

'**Hidden mist chuunin… ex-chuunin. They're definitely missing-nin. Watch their teamwork. Take one out fast and the other will fall just as quickly. The way I see it, they're taijutsu oriented. The best way to take them out would be to use long range ninjutsu and kage bunshin. **

Got it. If their teamwork becomes too annoying then we can double team them.

**Not a bad idea… I hope you know I'm not using that sword though.**

I know, don't worry.'

"Wait Naruto, it's too dangerous. Can't we lure them into a trap? We're not even sure if they're going to attack." said Sakura before giggling as if Naruto had told a joke.

"We could… but it'd be so much simpler to take them… Fine, fine. We'll do it your way." said Naruto.

"What's going on? How do you know someone's following us?" asked Tazuna. He was worried, but he had enough sense to act like nothing was wrong. It wouldn't hold up against intense scrutiny, but Naruto knew that the chances of the missing-nin actually taking them seriously were close to nil. They were bound to dismiss Tazuna's discomfort as indigestion or something of the like.

"Tazuna-san, Naruto detected shinobi from another village following us. We don't know what they want, but we're not taking any chances. The Naruto you see before you now isn't the real Naruto. It's a kage bunshin, a solid clone. The real Naruto and a few other clones have been surrounding us since we left the village. I know it's hard to believe, but we probably wouldn't have known either if he hadn't told us beforehand." explained Sakura.

"Tazuna-san, do you know of anyone who would hire shinobi to kill you?" asked Sasuke.

"They're missing-nin, if that helps any. You don't need to tell us who it is just yet, just nod yes if you think they're after you and no if this is just a coincidence." said the Naruto clone.

When Tazuna nodded yes, Naruto-clone's smile only grew.

"Looks like this mission's gonna be exciting after all… They've cut in front of us. They're out of eyesight now. They've hidden themselves in a puddle of water. They're just waiting for us now." said the Naruto-clone.

The group stopped when the real Naruto jumped from the trees and landed in front of them. The real Naruto was wearing his chameleon suit with the hood and the facemask pulled up and had his sword strapped to his back. The camouflage was mainly colored green and looked like leaves and branches. Tazuna stiffened when he saw the movement, but relaxed when Naruto pulled his facemask down.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to have 4 special kage bunshin transform into copies of us and have them walk down this road. When the enemy dispels one of them, it'll create about 10 times as much smoke as it's supposed to. In the confusion, I'll have the remaining kage bunshin tear off their gas masks. Sakura-chan, did you bring some sleep powder?" asked Naruto. When she nodded, Naruto continued.

"Good. Sasuke, you'll create a kage-fan and wave the powder into the field. Once that's done, their reflexes should be severely limited, so it'll be easy to take them out. Got it?" asked Naruto. When he received confirmation, he created 3 new kage bunshin and they used henge to turn themselves into perfect copies of the others. Then, the four clones headed off along the road. Sasuke and Sakura used the three handseal combination required to summon the suit and in a puff of smoke, they each prepared for the upcoming battle.

"Old man, from now until we reach our destination, we'll be using our code names, so don't use our real names. I'm crimson phoenix, Sakura-chan's bone dove, and Sasuke's ebon snake. Alright?" asked Naruto.

"Alright, phoenix. I don't have to say all of it right?" asked Tazuna, a little nervous and intimidated by their actions.

"Nope, I wasn't about to say all of it either... You shouldn't be so tense. I know I said earlier that I'd let any enemy cut your limbs off before helping you, but I wasn't actually serious." reassured Naruto.

"I'm alright. Just a tad nervous." said Tazuna.

"If you say so. You guys ready?" asked Naruto.

"Yeah I'm ready to go." said Sakura. Sasuke just nodded.

"Okay. Tazuna, you follow at a slow pace. I'll keep you guarded by kage bunshin at all times, so you don't have to worry about any attacks. We'll be back in a few minutes." said Naruto before the three of them ran in the forest and headed off towards the enemy nin.

"_Alright, from now on we use our radios to communicate. It's quieter. Snake, you're with Dove. I'll take up position near them." _said Naruto.

_"What if they see you?" _asked Sasuke.

_"They won't. Get ready, the clones are about 100 feet away… Alright, I'm in position. The clones are 50 feet away… 40… 30… 15… 3… The clones passed the puddle… They're attacking… They're going after Tazuna… Got him!" _

When the enemy nin's chain ripped through the Tazuna-clone, the entire area was swallowed in smoke.

_"Damn, I put too much chakra in it. Screw it, you guys spread the powder now, their gas masks are already off." _

Sasuke created a three foot fan and started waving it in the road's direction while Sakura threw the powder in front of it. After a few seconds, the air in the road became contaminated enough that too many inhalations would have a serious effect. When he felt he had waited long enough, Naruto told Sasuke to start blowing the smoke away. Sasuke doubled the fan's length and started fanning the area.

When the area was cleared of smoke, Sasuke and Sakura could see their enemy on the ground, tied with their own chain. They jumped from their perch on the tree and landed a few feet away. Naruto was busy digging in his backpack.

" Phoenix, what are you doing?" asked Sakura.

"Hold on just a second… found it!" said Naruto before taking out a large book the size of a dictionary.

"What is that?" asked Sasuke.

"It's a copy of the bingo book" answered Naruto.

"I didn't know we were allowed to make copies of that." said Sakura.

"We aren't. I don't know how The Boss got it for me, but I'm not exactly supposed to have it. Especially since we're not on home ground." answered Naruto as he leafed through the book.

"These guys are known as the demon brothers, their real names are Gouzu and Meizu and they're both hidden mist missing-nin of the chuunin level. They defected after the assassination attempt on the Mizukage by one of the seven legendary swordsmen failed." dictated Naruto.

"…Let's hurry. Snake, Dove, I'll get these guys in home territory. One of the ANBU patrols will handle them. You guys find Tazuna and hide. I'll be back in 10 minutes." said Naruto as he put the book back in his backpack and picked his prisoners up.

"What if we get attacked?" asked Sakura.

"You don't have to worry about that. I won't be gone long enough for that to happen. Besides, I have you surrounded by kage bunshin; they'll be able to hold off an attacker long enough for you guys to escape." said Naruto before he ran into the trees and out of their sight.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the group finds itself walking towards Wave country. The alpha squad had adopted a triangular formation, with Naruto in front. Tazuna was walking in the middle of the triangle with Sasuke to his left and Sakura to his right. 

"So, are you going tell us why someone's trying to kill you old man?" asked Naruto.

"You already know, Phoenix." said Sakura.

"Yeah, but I want to hear him say it." replied Naruto.

"When did you figure it out?" asked Tazuna, a little confused. He hadn't even caught a glimpse of his attackers or seen signs of a fight.

"It was pretty obvious. The Boss was laying it on incredibly thick; he was just one step away from just telling us that we would be attacked. Then he mentioned the economical situation and you filled in the blanks with your story. The only thing remaining now is a name." said Naruto.

"…The one after me is a super dangerous man. He has a monopoly over all business traffic in Wave country. He's one of the wealthiest men in the world, his name is Gatou." said Tazuna, dread creeping into his voice.

"Gatou…? It's your lucky day old man." said Naruto as he folded his arms behind his head.

"What are you talking about?" asked Tazuna.

"It just so happens that Gatou is one of The Boss's enemies. So I'll cut you a deal. I'll complete this mission and you won't have to pay another dime. I'll even add in a special bonus: if I run into Gatou, I'll throw in an assassination, free of charge. How does that sound?" asked Naruto.

" Phoenix! What are you doing!" yelled out Sakura.

"Gatou is a monster. He's had people killed and families ripped apart just to get more profit. He currently has 6 small countries under his thumb. Me and The Boss passed through one of them while I was gone… It was horrible; I've never seen so many people so miserable. Some were barely even alive. If I get the chance to make sure he never hurts anyone else ever again then I will. You two don't have to come with me; technically we're all supposed to go back to the village because the old man lied about his situation. I'm not gonna stop because… well, because I'm selfish. The next enemy will be a jounin… no doubt about that."

"No, I'm never running away again." said Sasuke. He had asked himself, if he couldn't handle a situation like this, how would he ever defeat his brother? So he would stay and fight, to test his limits. No matter how much he hated that phrase.

"Well, I can't let you two go off and get yourselves killed… besides helping all those people isn't exactly selfish Phoenix." said Sakura.

"…Thank you, Wave country will forever be in your debt… but are you sure you can beat Gatou? He is super tough." said Tazuna.

"Don't worry about that, it's all under control." reassured Naruto.

A little while later, the group had boarded a boat that was waiting for them. One of Tazuna's old friends had decided to help them despite the danger involved. The trip across the lake took place in an uneasy silence, as the boat waded slowly through the fog. As the boat approached the unfinished bridge, Naruto let out a gasp of wonder at its great size. Once they had reached the shore, the man bid them a hasty goodbye, started up the engine and left them standing on the dock.

"Well, let's get you home safely old man" said Naruto. The group then headed towards the town closest to the bridge which was the town Tazuna was living in. Wave country was composed of many towns of varying sizes that were separated by large sections of lush vegetation.

The group was traveling through one of the forest areas when Naruto abruptly stopped.

"Well… that didn't take long." said Naruto, before staring at a specific spot in the woods to his right.

"Impressive. I didn't think you'd manage to detect me." a voice came from behind a tree. Seconds later, the source of the voice became visible. Once they saw him, Sasuke and Sakura moved near Tazuna in order to prepare themselves for an attack.

It was a tall man with black hair wearing a Hidden mist forehead protector, though it was worn so that it faced his left side. His face was wrapped in bandages so only his cold black eyes could be seen. Naruto also noted that the man had no eyebrows, a fact that amused him to no end. He was shirtless and wore a pair of striped light gray pants. His forearms and lower legs are covered with sleeves that are colored white black and grey. He also carried a sword that looked like it was too heavy to swing. However, Naruto knew that it wasn't even a fourth as heavy as his own. But it was probably damn near indestructible.

"That sword… you're one of the seven legendary swordsmen." said Naruto.

"Oooh… I didn't think a brat like you would know about us." said the man.

"Care to give me a name?" asked Naruto.

"I don't know why I would give my name to a wanna-be ninja." said the man.

"Fine, we'll do it the usual way then." Naruto then threw his backpack to Sakura and said: "Dove, check him out. I'll handle him. Snake, watch for any other enemies."

"Heh… wearing fancy suits and acting like real ninjas… Only when you're good enough to be listed in my special handbook can you call yourselves real ninja. Until then, you're just useless scum." said the man.

" Phoenix… this is missing-nin Momochi Zabuza. He's the one who organized the assassination on the Mizukage. He's a master swordsman and is listed as an A rank missing-nin.

**'Momochi Zabuza, master of silent killing, the devil of the mist. This guy's a first grade asshole. I'm sure you remember the hidden mist graduation exam, fights to the death between students; this bastard killed the entire graduating class and quite a few other students, and he wasn't even a ninja. Luckily for us, most of his abilities are useless against us. All that's left is his spectacular swordsmanship. Go wild against him, you'll need it. **

What! I can't do that; Sakura-chan's standing right there!

**And? We'll be killed if you don't! **

I'll find another way.

**Why don't you just cut the aura off? **

You know I can't control it that well! I can't control it half as well as I control the blue kind and I still can't climb that damn tree!

**Still, half the tree in three days wasn't bad! **

It wasn't good enough.

**Alright, we'll do without it for now, but if we're losing… **

Yeah, yeah, yeah.'

"What's this? A bingo book? My, my… you three are special punks aren't you…" said Zabuza.

"Hey… Mister 'I'm too good for eyebrows'… Here's something for your handbook… The man who'll soon become Hokage, leaf-village ninja: Uzumaki Naruto!" said Naruto, as he removed his hood and facemask.

"Let's have a good time together... devil Zabuza." said Naruto as he slowly took his sword out of its sheath.

"So you know about that incident…I doubt you'll be much entertainment." said Zabuza as he lifted his sword and took up a fighting stance. He'd have some fun with the little brats before ending it. The demon brothers must've been detected by the yellow haired brat and taken in a trap. He had to admit; even he was impressed by his detection ability.

"I'll make you eat those words, better believe it!" said Naruto before he ran towards Zabuza.

Naruto started with a horizontal slice. Zabuza positioned his sword to block it and had planned to counter the instant the blow connected, but the force of the blow threw him off his feet. Naruto dashed after the off balanced Zabuza and sliced his sword downwards only to hit the ground as Zabuza rolled out of the way and sliced at Naruto's midsection. Naruto back flipped out of the way and left the sword in the ground. In mid-air, he formed the seal for kage bunshin and created 4 clones. One of the clones created picked the sword up and threw it to Naruto.

"That sword of yours is… quite heavy. You're pretty strong and you know a jounin level technique. Somehow, I'm sure it isn't the only one you know… but the game ends here." said Zabuza, before he dashed towards Naruto.

Naruto barely managed to block the strike in time. Two of his clones approached Zabuza from behind, but a swift kick from Zabuza dispelled them easily. Naruto thrust at Zabuza's chest, but he deflected it easily and countered with a brutal kick. Naruto stepped back from the blow and had great difficulty stopping the flurry of blows Zabuza threw. Every time Naruto threw a strike, Zabuza just deflected it or evaded it and gave Naruto a slice in return.

'Damn… how the hell am I going to get the upper hand…? He's too fast. I can't do without ninjutsu here. But this damn sword's keeping my hands… my hands.

**What is it? **

Otu, I just got a great idea. Make the seals for a lightning jutsu.

**No way, there is no way that it's going to work. **

Shut up and do it. I have a good feeling about this.

**Alright, I'll do it. **

Yeees… I can feel the chakra being molded. This'll definitely work… can't you do it faster?

**Shut up. You know I'm not good at things like this. **

Tch, We'll have to work on that.'

Naruto threw a thrust at Zabuza's chest and the instant Zabuza's sword touched his own to parry, he unleashed the full force of his basic Raiton technique.

Teishi had taught him one nameless technique for each of the elements (Fire type jutsu Katon, Water type jutsu Suiton, Thunder type jutsu Raiton, Wind type jutsu Fuuton, Earth type jutsu Doton and Ice type jutsu Hyouton). Katon jutsu creates flame, Suiton isn't very useful as it can only manipulate water in a very limited way, Naruto was only able to make a water shape float out of a nearby source of water and throw it at his enemy. Raiton jutsu could create thunder, Fuuton jutsu could create a gust of wind or a whirlwind. However, he wasn't able to create kamaitachi (wind blades) or do anything fancy. Doton jutsu created quake energy that caused earthquakes when it came in contact with solid ground and could be used to shatter fragile materials. Hyouton jutsu created a white ray of cold that coated whatever it came in contact with in ice. When in contact with water, it transforms it into ice.

They were the most basic of their class. With no special form, they were widely used to teach academy students how to improve their skill with a specific element. Using only two seals, they were severely outclassed by the other techniques available. However, these techniques also had no upper limit and could produce as much of the effect as there was chakra used, for as long as the jutsu was active. That is the reason why they were some of Naruto's most powerful techniques. The fact that Otu took over a little over 5 seconds to complete it, shows just how bad he is at making handseals. On average, it takes him 3 seconds to form a single seal. Naruto assumed that the claws had something to do with Otu's lack of speed.

The lightning traveled from his hands into his sword, from his sword to Zabuza's and from there into the water clone. The clone couldn't take the damage and burst into water.

'A clone! I couldn't even tell because he's such a freaking good swordsman. His skill with the sword made me miss the lack of speed.

**Hmm… That explains why he stopped attacking all of a sudden.**"

Naruto heard movement from behind him and ducked under Zabuza's swing, but he still wasn't fast enough to dodge the kick. This one was strong enough to make him lose hold of his sword and throw him into the river behind him.

"Damn!... What?" Naruto said as the water around him solidified and rose out of the river. Suddenly, Zabuza was next to him and had his hand plunged in the water sphere.

"Hey! I can't move!" yelled Naruto as he realized that he was unable to move his limbs. The water around him was far too solid for him to do more than move a few fingers and his jaw. The water was so thick that it didn't even enter his mouth when he opened it to speak.

"That's the point, kid. I have to admit you're better than I expected… but that's all. Who knows? I might let you live after I kill the old man." said Zabuza. He was about to create a water clone to deal with the others when someone interrupted him.

The three of them had watched the fight closely, but only Sasuke and Sakura knew enough to know something wasn't right. They both knew he was holding back, but neither could understand why. As the fight went on, Sakura found that she was getting angrier and angrier. He was betting their lives and he wasn't even taking it seriously. He never took anything seriously. Finally, when he was trapped, she had had enough. She tore her mask down and let inner-Sakura speak her mind. She could've said her piece through the radio just as easily, but her anger didn't let her think that far ahead.

"NARUTO! What the hell do you think you're doing! Will you stop holding back already? This is serious! Take something seriously for once!" yelled Sakura.

"But… Sakura-chan… If I do it you're going to… you'll be distracted and you might get hurt!" said Naruto, meekness twisting his voice into something gloomy.

Sasuke couldn't believe it. Naruto was holding back because of something so stupid? In his mind, anything would've been better, even holding back to make the fight last longer. He couldn't resist holding his hand to his forehead and groaning in pure annoyance.

Sakura on the other hand, was just as shocked but for completely different reasons. She was touched by his will to keep her from harm, even when he came out on the losing side because of it. She was about to yell at him to stop it, that he didn't need to hold back for her sake, but something stopped her.

It was the look in his eyes. He wasn't done yet. So she decided to trust him.

Zabuza was honestly intrigued. These children seemed completely sure of the fact that if he had stopped holding back, Naruto would've actually stood a chance. If he wasn't mistaken, they even thought that he, the devil of the mist, would lose! He was certainly interested, but he wouldn't get the chance to explore the possibilities.

**'Are you certain? **

Yes.

**I will hurt like nothing else. **

I'm pretty sure we've already lived through worse.

**No. This will damage every fiber of our body. Zabuza will take less damage than we will. **

We're strong. I'm sure we'll heal in time.

**It would be so much easier if you would just… **

No.

**Fine, have it your way. **

Don't worry. Everything will turn out alright. I can feel it.

**…I can too. Doesn't mean I'll enjoy it.' **

"Hey Zabuza… Surprise!" said Naruto before Otu released the high charged Raiton.

The effects were devastating. The light created by the lightning caused the water prison to glow like a light bulb so they were unable to see what happened to Naruto. But the effects on Zabuza were as clear as day. His body started convulsing and his limbs were jerking around wildly. His muscles could barely take the strain and some of those less developed snapped under the pressure. The three of them could see the lightning burning the flesh wherever it went. The lightning also wreaked havoc on his organs, making them contract and release wildly. His heart was especially painful. He couldn't even scream because he couldn't control his vocal cords. Mercifully, the water sphere exploded at that point, and threw both of the ninjas to the shore.

The three of them gasped as they saw what appeared to be Naruto's charred corpse. What could be seen of his skin through his ripped up suit was black and dark brown. His skin melted off at several points to expose the burned flesh and bone below. His eyeballs had exploded and it appeared as if he had bitten off his tongue. His scalp had been destroyed as well, so all of his bright yellow hair had fallen off, leaving him completely hairless. Since he couldn't move inside the prison, he had less muscular damage than Zabuza.

The odor coming from his body wafted up the other's noses and the smell repulsed them. He smelled like a moderately burnt steak. Tazuna could take no more and he violently puked his guts out. Sasuke and Sakura were so shocked they couldn't move.

"…Naruto… no…" whispered Sakura before she fell to her hands and knees and tears started to leave her eyes. Sasuke started shaking in horror. This was the first death he had witnessed since…

Zabuza regained enough of his senses to be able to climb to his knees… barely.

"You… dumb kid. Killing yourself just to save that old man… I thought you said you were going to be Hokage? Idiot." said Zabuza.

"………who said I was dead?" came Naruto's raspy voice.

Zabuza's head slowly turned to stare unbelievably at Naruto's slow moving body.

"I'm sure… you don't know, but I happen… to be a fast healer. I should be fully healed… in a while… it'll take a lot of chakra, but I can do it. You on the other hand… you'll take a little longer. I don't want to kill you, so I'll let you escape as long as you promise me… not to attack the old man while I'm still alive. What do you say?"

"That's stupid. There's no way you can trust my word on this." said Zabuza, unable to keep his disbelief from staining his voice.

"I know… I'll keep an eye open. Do we have a deal?" Naruto's voice was beginning to sound like normal and his tongue was back to its normal size. A closer look revealed that his eyes were back as well.

"Yeah… I'm beginning to wonder just how strong you are." said Zabuza as he used a tree to drag himself to his feet.

"Great... Your friend doesn't have to stay hidden you know. I'm not sure where he is, but I know he's around here somewhere. He can help you if he wants to." said Naruto, as he climbed to his knees and slowly began to stand.

"So you even managed to detect him huh…" Zabuza started laughing then. It was a startlingly wicked laugh, one that spoke of too many horrors to ever be truly merry. Then, a black haired boy wearing a hidden mist hunter-nin mask appeared. He jumped next to Zabuza and put his arm over his shoulders.

"Well, Uzumaki Naruto… I look forward to our next meeting." said Zabuza, before he and the masked kid disappeared. A few seconds after Zabuza left, Naruto decided that it would much better if he just healed in his sleep. So he closed his eyes and let himself go.

* * *

"Zabuza-san… are you alright?" 

"I'll be fine. We can't wait for my muscles to heal, so I'm going to go pay a little visit to an old friend. He's a medic-nin and he'll fix me up in no time. He lives a little ways from here so I won't take too long."

"I won't be accompanying you?"

"…No. I need you to watch that boy for me. He truly is interesting. Watch him for any weaknesses. I have a feeling that he won't be so easy next time."

"Zabuza-san… do you think he would make a better tool than I?

"No. He might be stronger than you, but that boy is no one's tool. I could see it in his eyes, his voice, his attitude… everything." said Zabuza.

"…"

"Tell Gatou I should be back in a little under three days."

"Goodbye Zabuza-san. Take care of yourself."

* * *

When Naruto woke up, he was laying on futon in a place he hadn't been before. He was still wearing his ripped, blood stained suit. His weapons were missing but his storage scroll was in place. Before he opened his eyes, he took a deep breath and checked the room for people. He was alone in the room, but he could detect signs that 5 people had been in it recently, three of them being Tazuna, Sasuke and Sakura and the other two being a young boy and a woman. He accurately guessed them to be Tazuna's daughter and grandchild. He realized that they had probably removed his weapons to make him easier to carry. Once he established that he was in a safe environment, he checked his body for any remaining injuries. As far as he could tell, his body was back to its full strength. A quick look out the window revealed that the sun was actually higher than he remembered. 

'Otu, how long have I been sleeping?'

Fun fact: Otu never slept.

'**A little over 21 hours. **

That long?

**That last attack and our subsequent regeneration almost emptied out our supply of blue chakra. Don't forget that we had that spar with Asuma with Kurenai in the morning, followed by the large amount of kage bunshin we used to surround us, the short fight with the demon brothers and the fight with Zabuza. We have a lot of the blue kind, but we have a lot more of the red. When you add on the fact that our body only reaches its normal strength when we use the wild chakra and that the blue kind limits our abilities, you get an extremely tired body. We've never fought so long without red chakra before. You know that we aren't fully human anymore, so relying on human chakra in this body will only exhaust us faster. I understand your reasons, but if you're so against using it with her near, then at least learn to control the blue type better. **

Alright… we should be safe for a few days… We'll use this time for training. I have a great idea I want to test out… It's a good thing Zabuza took me up on my offer.

**If he hadn't we would've been forced to go wild, especially if they decided to go after the others. **

True… if that masked kid had gone after them then I would've had to rip his throat out.

**Don't you think it's time to tell the others we're alive? **

Okay… think Sakura-chan worried about me?

**Of course she did. She's probably still mad at you for holding back. **

…

**Yeah… On second thought, she'll probably laugh if she sees us like this. **

Like what?

**Our hair's gone again. **

Crap… I hate having to grow it back. I always use too much chakra and make it too long.

**Well, there's a mirror in this room so maybe it'll go better now.' **

Naruto silently rose from the futon and walked closer to the mirror on the dresser. He then concentrated some chakra in his scalp and influenced his hair's growth. Immediately, his hair began to grow at an exaggerated rate. Predictably, Naruto used far more chakra than necessary and in a second, Naruto's hair reached his upper back. By the time he cut the flow, it had reached his lower back.

**'See? That went far better than usual.' **

Sadly, he was being completely serious.

Naruto looked around him but couldn't find his weapons. Then he realized that since he wasn't in the woods he could actually get someone to cut his hair properly. He put it on his to do list and opened the door to the room. The hallway was empty but he could smell the woman's scent coming from the lower floor, along with what appeared to be today's lunch. He walked to the end of the hallway and down the stairs into the main room. He entered a door directly across the stairs and found himself in a dining room/kitchen. A woman was cooking lunch over a stove a few feet to his right. She hadn't noticed him yet. He could see a door heading outside and memorized it as a possible entry point. He made a note to find out where the other possible entrances were later. For now, he was hungry.

"What's cooking?" asked Naruto casually.

The woman let out a loud shriek and jumped a few inches before turning to face Naruto. She stared at him for several moments before asking:

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Naruto frowned, not understanding why she didn't recognize him before he realized the problem and grinned at her.

"Oh right, the hair. I'm one of the ninja the old man hired. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. You're his daughter aren't you?" said Naruto.

Once she heard what he said, she recovered enough of her state of mind to recognize the severely injured boy she had seen the previous day. She hadn't quite believed the other children when they said that he'd be fine with a little rest, and that she should probably leave him alone. She had thought them heartless and had planned on looking after him while they were gone, but it seeing him standing before her now, she regretted her earlier assessment of them. Once she recovered more of her composure, she answered him.

"Um… yes, yes I am…My name is Tsunami. May I ask how your hair grew back so fast?" asked Tsunami.

Naruto had edged closer to the window and had discovered that the house was actually built over the water and was connected to the land with a series of bridges. He guessed that Tazuna wasn't lying when he said he was a famous bridge builder.

"Huh? Oh! I'm a fast healer, so controlling my hair's growth is pretty simple. It's harder to grow back an arm than to grow back hair." said Naruto, the picture of disinterest.

Then he realized what he just said and turned to see if he had freaked her out as much as he imagined he had. His expectations were very accurate.

"…It would probably be easier for both of us if you ignored what I just said." said Naruto. Tsunami agreed and the subject was dropped. A long awkward silence developed.

"…I think the food's about to burn." said Naruto. Tsunami then turned to tend to the meal she was preparing. Naruto stood there for a few seconds pondering on the best way to start a conversation.

"Um… Do you know where Sakura-chan and Sasuke went?"

"They went with my father to work today. They said that you'd take over as soon as you woke up." answered Tsunami.

"Nah, there's no need to do that right now. Gatou's too cheap to hire another ninja if he already had Zabuza and that guy won't be in fighting condition for at least 30 hours, even if he knows a good medic-nin. We're perfectly safe right now." said Naruto, with utmost confidence.

"Well… okay." said Tsunami, still working over her stove.

"Say, you wouldn't happen to know where I could get a haircut, would ya? I can never get the length right and using a kunai makes it look weird." asked Naruto.

"… I could do it for you, if you like…" said Tsunami. Naruto could tell she hesitated, but he knew enough to ignore it.

"Really? Thanks! That'd be great!... We can eat first right?" asked Naruto while trying to look over her shoulders to see the food. He could smell it just fine, but he still wanted to see it.

"Yes, but you should get out of those dirty clothes and wash the blood off." said Tsunami.

"Okay… Where's the bathroom?" asked Naruto.

"Go out this door and it's the second door on your left. There's a towel and a bathrobe in there, you can use them." said Tsunami as she pointed at the door Naruto used to get come in.

Naruto nodded and left to take his bath. He entered the bathroom, unzipped his suit and entered the shower. There, he spent ten minutes, scraping off the blood and washing off the dirt, grime and dead skin. Once done, he rinsed himself off and took out his storage scroll from his suit's chest pouch. He then manually switched his clothes and the suit and dressed himself in his usual dark orange T-shirt and black knee length shorts. He decided against putting his sandals on and preferred to remain barefoot.

He walked out of the bathroom and headed back to the dining room where Tsunami was setting up plates.

"When do we eat?"

Once again, Tsunami let out a loud shriek and jumped a few inches before turning to face Naruto. This time she let out a sigh of relief when she saw him.

"You know, Naruto-kun… could you make a little more noise when you move? It's really… upsetting." said Tsunami.

"Okay, can I eat now?" asked Naruto without a moment's pause.

"Not yet, we have to wait for the others to come, it shouldn't take too long." said Tsunami.

"Okay… Do we really have to?" asked Naruto.

"Yes."

"But I won't be able to fully recover if I don't eat!"

"Then it's a good thing that we won't be attacked any time soon." said Tsunami.

'…crap.

**Looks like we won't get to eat early and leave before Sakura comes back. **

…I haven't given up yet.'

"Awww… What am I going to do until then?" asked Naruto.

Tsunami thought for a second before pulling out a chair and asking Naruto to sit. Naruto did as asked while Tsunami took out a sheet and a pair of scissors from some cupboards. She draped the sheet over Naruto and tied it to the back of the chair.

"What kind of haircut do you want?" asked Tsunami.

"Anything's good." said Naruto.

Tsunami listened to Naruto speak while she was tending to his hair. She learned about his dream, about his unit and about the many details that made up his life. Even though she didn't learn anything really important, she had learned enough to become at ease in his presence. When she was done, she took a hand mirror and handed it to Naruto.

Naruto saw that the front part was cut just above his eyes while the rest was still down to his lower back. The long part had been tied into a braid.

"So? What do you think?"

"…You think this looks ok?"

"I think you look cute."

"…"

Naruto searched his memories, and he believed that this was probably the first time anyone had ever called him cute.

"Is something wrong? You don't like it?" asked Tsunami.

"Nah… It looks great." said Naruto, before he gave Tsunami an honest smile.

'This kind of looks like Teishi's haircut…

**What do we do if he starts bragging to everyone about his shining influence? **

If we start a fight every time he mentions it, do you think he'll stop?

**Don't count on it. There's a small chance he will but that's only if we win. **

Damn… I guess we'll just have to deal with it then.'

A few minutes later, right after Naruto and Tsunami finished cleaning up the floor; Naruto detected his teammates approaching with Tazuna. He immediately took a seat and was about to fill his plate with food when Tsunami stopped him.

"Naruto-kun, I thought I told you to wait for the others."

"You did, but they're here."

"Where?"

"Tsunami! We're back! Did Naruto wake up yet!" yelled Tazuna from the main room.

"See?" said Naruto as he scooped up some rice with some pork and beans and began to eat using the speed he usually reserved for ramen. Tsunami would've stopped him, but she was fascinated by his movements. She could barely even see his chopsticks move.

A minute later, when the Sasuke entered the room, Naruto had just finished his fourth helping and was heading towards the exit.

"Naruto? Where are you… what happened to your hair?" asked Sasuke.

"Training and I grew it back. I'll be in the northern woods, if you need me just call for me." said Naruto as he opened the door and left the house.

* * *

**'Don't you think that's going to make her even angrier? **

What?

**Avoiding her. **

I'm not avoiding her.

**Naruto… **

Otu, let's not do this now.

**…As you wish, brother. What do you want to work on? **

Three things: The first is to practice our jutsu execution, the second is to try to conceal our wild chakra and the last is to increase our chakra control.

**How are we going to practice concealing our chakra? We need others to do that. **

…I guess we'll have to replace that with physical training.'

* * *

**'This isn't working. **

I have an idea. What if we….

**…Actually that might work. But we won't be able to use it against Zabuza. Not if you insist on holding back. **

Let's test it out anyway'

* * *

**'Not bad, not bad at all. **

That was great! I think it's our most powerful ability yet!

**Our claws can release more pure destructive power, but this is far more flexible, more unpredictable, more… Shouldn't we put out the fire? **

…It's probably alerted everyone to our presence. We'd better be careful.'

* * *

**'She's coming you know. **

…You're right…? I just realized… how long have you been able to do that?

**Do what? Smell? **

Yeah, but I'm in control.

**That? You and I need to be synchronized. When that happens, I get access to what's happening around us. **

…Can you concentrate on stuff that I'm not paying attention to?

**I think so. **

Great! We've got to test this out.

**Not now. We've got company.'**

"Hey… Sakura-chan. What brings you here?" asked Naruto, while continuing his training by fighting imagined enemies. He didn't mean it as an insult so much as he took it as an opportunity to train in the art of concentrating on multiple things.

"Naruto, I need to talk to you." said Sakura as Naruto back flipped over imaginary shuriken before landing flat against the ground to avoid a katon jutsu. This training was more effective than usual because Otu was the one to create the imaginary opponents.

"Can't we do it like this?" asked Naruto as he dodged the spear and hit his attacker in the chest, causing him to disappear.

"No, I need you to do me a favor."

"Alright, just let me finish." said Naruto. He leaned out of the way of an attack and kicked his foe in the face, grabbed the one behind him and threw him into the remaining enemy. Quickly, he formed two handseals and thrust his arm out towards them. He yelled "Fuuton!" and a large gust of wind blew them out of existence. Naruto then dusted his hands off and looked directly at Sakura for the first time. She was wearing her chameleon suit in its usual grey color with the hood down and the facemask off… but something surprised him.

He wasn't prepared for the look on her face. He had been prepared to face anger, sadness and disappointment, but he couldn't understand where this came from… this fierce determination.

"Uh… Sakura-chan… What is it?" asked Naruto, almost fearfully.

"Naruto, fight me."

"WHAT! Why!" asked Naruto, completely taken aback by her request.

"I don't want to hold you back anymore." came Sakura's answer.

"Eh?" came Naruto's superb response.

"You said that you were holding back because of me… because I was distracted when you used… what it was you used. So if I fight you while you're using that, I'll become used to it and I won't be distracted anymore." explained Sakura.

"You want me to fight you like that? Out of the question! No way in hell!" yelled Naruto.

"Naruto! This is the only way! We can't go on like this!" yelled Sakura.

"Damn it! There has to be another way!" said Naruto.

"There isn't Naruto… you have to do it. So I can get used to being in that… whatever it is…" said Sakura.

"…It's my aura. Teishi calls it my Allegiance Aura ability. What it does is that it tells my allies that I'll do my best to help them out and it clearly tells my enemies that they're about to get seriously beaten. I'm told it gets worse if I'm fighting to kill. It also warns all the neutral creatures in the area that it would be a better idea to stay out of my way. There's more, but that's the gist of it." explained Naruto.

**'And since we'd really rather you stay out of danger, our aura does its best to make sure you leave the fighting to us. But… it seems that she doesn't like that, brother. **

…I can understand that. But that doesn't mean I'm going to fight her.

**Of course not.**'

"…But, doesn't that mean you're warning your opponent of an attack?" asked Sakura.

"Kind of, it's not exactly an ability created for shinobi use. It's most useful when I'm trying to protect something and when I'm fighting in a group. My aura makes it difficult for a weaker or inexperienced opponent to focus on something other than me and it also increases my allies' morale and decreases my enemies'." said Naruto.

"…So, are you going to do it?" asked Sakura.

Naruto was about to say no, but since he couldn't bear to destroy Sakura's hopes, he had to find an alternative. He thought for a few seconds and found a suitable course of action.

"I have a better idea. What you really want is to be able to concentrate against an enemy. If you fight me, neither of us will be able to do much and the training will fail. The best way to do this is to fight an actual enemy. Luckily for you, I have the perfect candidate." Naruto turned to face his right and yelled: "Hey! Come out here! Don't try to escape, it won't end well, I promise you that!"

A few seconds later, the masked boy that followed Zabuza around exited the forest. Sakura stiffened and was about the draw a weapon when Naruto stopped her.

"Hey, cool it Sakura-chan… we aren't here to fight… Well… actually, we are, but not in that way. You're going to spar with this guy Sakura-chan."

Sakura's eyes widened and she turned to speak to Naruto, but her shock was so great that she was unable to say anything.

"Alright, here's the deal. You've been watching me for a while now and I didn't say anything, so I figure you owe me something. I want you to spar with my teammate for a little while. No weapons, no jutsu, just straight Taijutsu. I know you heard what I was saying so you understand the situation. If you do it, you'll get a glimpse of my full power, so you'll have succeeded your mission. How 'bout it?" asked Naruto.

Sakura finally found her voice and yelled: "NARUTO! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? YOU…"

"Sakura."

Sakura was stopped cold by Naruto's voice. He was... so serious. She had never seen him act like that before. There wasn't an iota of his usual playfulness anywhere. His eyes were piercing into her, unyielding.

"Wh... What?" She was so surprised that she almost took a step back.

"Do you want to stop holding me back or not? This is the only way to do it. If you're that worried about getting hurt then it'd better if you just stayed behind."

Naruto's words hit her like a brick wall. She had promised herself that she would do whatever was necessary to help Naruto and Sasuke.

'Is this all I can do? I probably would've had to fight against him eventually anyway. I can do this… I have to do this.'

Sakura made up her mind and nodded. Naruto lost his serious expression and his usual grin lit up his face again. But Sakura was not completely satisfied.

"Naruto, why are you letting him find your weaknesses? Zabuza's not just anyone, you're giving him better odds." complained Sakura.

"Sakura-chan, Zabuza isn't stupid. He's an experienced jounin; he knows which battles to fight and which ones not to fight. If he knows that he has no chance of winning then he won't attack." said Naruto.

"So you say we have no chance of victory? Uzumaki-kun, you underestimate us." said the masked boy.

"Call me Naruto. I wouldn't say he has no chance of winning, but I would say the odds are in my favor… and I doubt your master has any loyalty to Gatou." said Naruto.

"…" the masked boy didn't answer.

"What's your name?" asked Naruto.

"I am called, Haku." answered Haku.

"So Haku, how about it?" asked Naruto.

"Why should I do you a favor? If I do this, you'll use your full power against Zabuza-san." questioned Haku.

"Well, it's like this: I'll use my full power if I have to. More importantly, I know you were going to tell Zabuza that my teammates are my weaknesses so I'll do you a favor by telling you the truth. If you or Zabuza had put a hand on my teammates then I would've ripped the both of you to pieces. You'd better believe it. Zabuza's first-rate but he can't stop me when I'm like that. Don't even try taking them hostage. So really, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. You'll understand better soon enough." said Naruto, his voice never losing its light.

'**Are you sure about this? **

I'm positive. If he tries anything, I'll gut him.

**You sure that's enough? **

…You're right; keep a medium Fuuton on standby.

**Now we're talking… We need to come up with a better scale. How about levels? **

What do you mean?

**Well, let's say a level 1 Katon is a small fireball and a level 5 is a lake of fire? **

Alright, you should keep a level 2 Fuuton on standby then.

**Sure thing… What if he uses an elemental? **

…Human shield.

**We've got everything covered then.'**

* * *

Haku wasn't sure what to think about Naruto. At first, he sounded exactly like a boasting child… but he couldn't help but feel this slight pressure whenever he spoke like that. It was odd, but this child had an intense presence that was hard to miss. So he decided to take up his offer and see if that aura was all it was cracked up to be. 

"One last thing, you're about to spar with someone who means a lot to me. If you hurt her unnecessarily, don't expect to be able to leave here alive." said Naruto right as he started channeling his wild chakra and his aura hit the others with its full force.

All of a sudden, Haku's eyes locked on Naruto and he found that he couldn't look away. He felt like the rabbit that had wandered into the lion's den… but not really. Somehow, he could tell that Naruto was pretty much indifferent in regards to him, so he wasn't really scared. It was kind of like a peasant… no, a noble being invited into his king's court. The noble knew of the king's power, but since the king regarded him as a relatively neutral presence, he had nothing to fear as long as he didn't do anything to attract his ire.

However, he had just been invited… ordered to spar with the king's love interest. To say he was worried would not be a lie. The sweat appearing over his body was a testament to that.

He suddenly had a mad urge to wipe his hands off. He managed to resist it and spent his energy trying to look at his opponent. He made some progress but found that he was unable to completely look away. The best he could currently accomplish was to not look directly at him.

From what he could see of his opponent, which wasn't much because looking directly at her would cause him to lose sight of Naruto, she seemed to be trying to ignore the aura as well. She was doing far better than he was though; she didn't have Naruto in her line of sight and was looking directly at him.

"Ready? Set? GO!" yelled Naruto.

And so began their spar.

* * *

'…Urgh, this isn't working. 

**What gave you that idea? The half-assed attacks coming from Sakura-chan or the fact that Haku is barely even paying attention to Sakura? **

Maybe if we wait a little they'll get better?

**We'll see.' **

**_5 minutes later _**

'I've had enough of this. This is horrible.

**What are you doing? **

Watch and learn.'

Naruto had been standing in the forest clearing watching the two spar for a few minutes. Throughout the fight, he hadn't changed position; he stood with his weight held on his left leg, with his arms crossed and his long braid wrapped around his neck. He hadn't had to move, Haku moved in a way that made it unnecessary. The only change is that an annoyed expression slowly twisted his face as the spar went on. Suddenly, he dashed with great speed to a position where he would be facing Haku's back. Immediately, Haku moved his body so he could turn his head in Naruto's direction, but Sakura had previously thrown a kick aimed at Haku's head. He realized his mistake and tried to turn back in time to block the blow, but he was too late. Sakura's kick hit Haku's face as he was turning his head back in her direction. The blow, although weaker than it could've been, was enough to throw Haku to the ground and throw his mask off.

Naruto tilted his head and stared, Sakura started blinking excessively and Haku blushed.

"…Whoa… How odd is it for a boy to be cuter than most girls?" said Naruto.

"Don't be silly Naruto. She can't be a boy." said Sakura, surprised at the discovery.

"Trust me on this one Sakura-chan. He is definitely a boy. There's no way I'm wrong about that." said Naruto before shaking his head. "Anyway, that's not important right now. Haku, you're paying too much attention to me, I already told you I'm not your opponent. What would have done if I was fighting Zabuza? You can't pay so much attention to me if you have to handle my teammates and Sakura-chan won't get any better if you don't fight seriously." explained Naruto.

Haku got up with little problems and stared at Naruto for a few seconds, as if to try and uncover his true intentions. He nodded and picked his mask up but instead of putting in on, he put it in his clothes. He then turned and faced Sakura, getting Naruto out of sight for the first time.

**'You think he's the bonus Teishi was talking about? **

Probably… I need to know more about him to be absolutely sure.

**I thought killing Gatou was the bonus. **

No, he wouldn't have included Sasuke then.

**How, pray tell, are you going to get him to join us? There's no way he'll betray Zabuza. Not if he's someone we want in our unit. **

Who said we'd exclude Zabuza? Teishi said he created the FOX unit and filled it with those that possessed strong will. He also asked us to scout out exceptional shinobi and said that it didn't matter if they were missing-nin. These guys fit the mold perfectly.

**Zabuza isn't exactly the best choice though. **

I know what you mean, but I don't think he's all that bad.

**Oh well, I'm more worried about Gatou anyway. He's bound to show up soon... probably right after Zabuza. **

Did you come up with a suitable plan yet?

**Not yet, you've kept me busy since you woke up. **

I'll let you get back to work then.

**That's okay; I'll have plenty of time when you fall asleep.' **

* * *

Naruto carried Sakura piggy-back style to Tazuna's after her spar with Haku. It was around 7:30. At first, Naruto had been waiting for Sakura to quit but as the spar went on, he slowly became aware of the fact that it wasn't going to happen any time soon. He stopped her when he realized that there wasn't a point to it anymore: Sakura had successfully managed to completely ignore the effects of his aura. 

It seems that he stopped the spar just in time, Sakura dropped down as soon as he told her it was over. He had immediately said goodbye to Haku and started helping her walk back to the house. He eventually got tired of the slow process and started carrying her bridal style. After a few complaints, they switched to piggy-back and went on their merry way. Sakura had fallen asleep on the way back.

'Chakra exhaustion…

**Didn't you notice the signs? **

Kind of… I noticed that she was sweating a lot more than Haku. She had to use chakra to be able to hold her own, but…

**You thought she had more chakra. **

I know she doesn't have as much chakra as me, but I thought she had more than that. We're going to have to work on that.

**Well, the bad thing is that we're down to two shinobi now. **

What? What do you mean? A good night's sleep and she'll…

**You need to keep in mind that we're pretty much the only ones that recover that fast. It wasn't that bad, but she'll need two or three days of rest to recover from this. **

…Alright, we can't last long like this. Since we're up against Gatou, reinforcements are damn near limitless. We need to complete the bridge as soon as possible.'

As Naruto was getting near Tazuna's house, he started smelling Tsunami's cooking and as he got closer, he could hear the sound of conversation and of utensils striking the plates. He hoped they left enough food for him; otherwise he would have to go fishing.

When Naruto entered the dining room, the first thing he noticed was a little boy wearing a hat and an empty stare. For some reason, that little boy reminded him of himself when he was that age. He didn't enjoy being reminded of those times. The others turned to him and concerned looks appeared when they noticed who he was carrying. Tsunami got up and approached the pair.

"Whoa! What happened to Sakura? She's super beat-up!" exclaimed Tazuna.

"Training. It looks bad but she'll be fine in a few days… I'm not sure we have that long though. Tsunami, could you put Sakura-chan to bed? She'll wake up pretty soon, but I don't want her to move around too much." said Naruto.

"Of course Naruto-kun. If you're hungry then just help yourself to something." said Tsunami before she took the sleeping Sakura in her arms and headed to an empty room. Naruto watched them go off before he turned to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, I ran into Haku today."

"Who is that?"

"Zabuza's friend. I had him spar against Sakura."

"…Is that why she's so beat up?" asked Sasuke.

"He didn't do that much damage, she just ran out of chakra. Anyway, I checked him out and your taijutsu's better than his. I didn't get a chance to check out his ninjutsu, but as long as he's not hiding something spectacular then you should be able to hold him while I take care of Zabuza. Don't do anything stupid; I don't want to kill them if we don't have to."

"Nishizaki-sensei's bonus?" asked Sasuke.

"They're probably it, but I just want to avoid unnecessary death."

"You think you can handle Zabuza?"

"Yeah, that's what we were training for. It took some effort but Sakura's able to ignore my aura now. I won't have to hold back anymore." said Naruto.

"You shouldn't have held back in the first place. You could've gotten us all killed." said Sasuke, still a little annoyed.

"…If Zabuza or Haku had noticed a huge opening, there were good chances they would've attacked. I couldn't put you guys in danger like that. That was probably the best way to handle things." said Naruto.

'**That has to be the worst excuse ever.**'

"You know, you're a horrible liar." said Sasuke.

"Shut up. I'll watch Tazuna from now on, you don't have to come tomorrow, but I'll need you there the day after." said Naruto as he sat down next to Sasuke and took a plate. The little boy in front of him decided to give them a piece of his mind.

"I don't know why you bothered training… it's not like it'll change anything. There's no way you can win against Gatou, you were almost killed. You're all going to die here." said the little boy.

Naruto closed his eyes and counted to five. He took deep breaths and told himself that it wouldn't do any good to throw a child out of a window. He opened his eyes and noticed that Sasuke was just as annoyed at the little brat as he was. Tazuna just looked worried.

"Hey Tazuna? Is this your cute grandson Inari?" When Tazuna nodded, he continued with: "I never met anyone who thought pathetic cowardice was cute before…"

Naruto learned not to lash out with his fists whenever he was angry. Spending a year with someone who actually listened to him helped him learn to express his feelings with words instead of actions. It was one of the many lessons Teishi ingrained into him. However, this restraint comes with the fact that nothing would ever stop him from speaking his mind.

Inari didn't like the comment Naruto made, and he wanted to prove to Naruto that his point of view was the truth. He didn't know that it was impossible yet, but he would learn soon enough.

"What do you know! No matter how hard you train, when the weak go up against the strong they just end up killed!" yelled Inari. Tears were beginning to appear in his eyes.

"I don't get you kid. Even though you know that the strong always beat the weak, you're just fine staying a weak little idiot. So it's okay to do nothing and cry all day!" asked Naruto.

"…" Inari couldn't find anything to say.

"Answer me!" said Naruto.

Inari started sniffing as tears left his eyes. Naruto just shook his head and got up, his chair scraping against the floor and pushed away his plate full of food.

He had lost his appetite.

"Old man. I need to talk to you." said Naruto before walking out of the house, leaving behind him a crying little boy.

* * *

Naruto was sitting on a bridge outside the house, watching the moon's reflection on the water. He had taken his sandals off and was slowly twirling his feet through the cool water. 

"You shouldn't be so hard on him." said Tazuna as he approached Naruto.

"Why the hell not? Wait… let me guess… he has a tragic sob story that'll give him a reason to be such a spineless brat?"

"…"

"Well? Let's hear it." said Naruto.

Tazuna sat down next to Naruto and told him the started telling him the whole story in detail. From the beginning, the day Inari was saved by Kaiza after he was kicked into the lake by the kids who stole his dog, to the day he saved the village from a bad flood, to the day when his arms were cut off and he was decapitated in front of Inari and a large number of people.

"I'm not impressed." said Naruto. When Tazuna looked at him with disapproval, Naruto just shook his head and told him:

"You don't get it. Back in Konoha, things like this aren't exactly rare. I mean really, my teammate Kiba's father was killed during a mission a few years ago. Hinata's mother died giving birth to her younger sister and her entire clan treats her like a failure, even her own father, just because her sister has more talent than she does. And Sasuke… It's not up to me to tell you that. Anyway, I'm not as forgiving as others when it comes to wasting time feeling sorry for myself."

"What about you?" asked Tazuna. He hadn't missed the fact that as Naruto's rant went on, he was glaring with more and more fury at his own reflection.

"…What?"

"What's your story? You just explained why you didn't like it when people felt sorry for themselves, but you haven't told me why you're so angry." explained Tazuna. "What is it? Did you lose your parents too?"

"…What parents? I'm an orphan. I don't know who they are, never had any, no adopted parents, no parental figures, nothing. I was in an orphanage for a while but the adults there hated me so I ran away when I was 5. The Hokage gave me a small apartment and I lived there until last year. I left on a training trip and came back a year later. Now I live on the compound with the rest of my unit."

"Why did the adults at the orphanage hate you? Was it a bad orphanage?" asked Tazuna. He couldn't understand why the Hokage would allow a child to live by himself.

"No, they treated all the other kids great, I was just the shining exception. It wasn't just the adults in the orphanage though, the great majority of adults in Konoha hate me and the rest ignore me so they won't get shunned by those who do. And all because of something that was decided before I was even born. Anyway, Inari's real sad now, but he still has you and Tsunami." said Naruto in an attempt to steer the conversation away from him.

"So you're angry at Inari because he has someone and you don't?" asked Tazuna.

"No! I'm angry because he reminds me of myself at his age… Everyone hated me and I had no idea why. The adults hated me and kept telling their children that I was no good so they all avoided me. Every time I managed to get myself a playmate, someone came along and screamed at me until I went away or the kid was taken away. I was all alone and all I could do was cry. I kept asking myself why no one liked me, I kept trying to get them to like me but I never succeeded and one day I finally figured out why.

There was no reason.

They didn't hate me because of the way I looked or because of my personality. They hated me because I was Uzumaki Naruto. If there was a clone of myself, but with a different name, they would like him… but never me. You can't imagine how hopeless I felt then… I almost gave up on them.

That's when I joined the ninja academy. During a class, the teacher explained to us what the Hokage is. If I remember correctly, he said that the Hokage title was awarded to the strongest shinobi in the village, I stopped listening after that. I got the idea that if I became Hokage, no one would hate me; they would have to like me or at the very least respect me. That's when I started working towards my current goal, which is to have everyone in the village acknowledge me as a valuable shinobi by becoming Hokage."

"Why didn't your Hokage force the adults to treat you better?" asked Tazuna.

"He did. That was nice for them. They stopped the assassination attempts when they realized that the Hokage wouldn't forgive them no matter who they were. If they tried it, they were dead. It took two failed attempts, one when I was a few days old and again when I was three months old, and eight executions for them to figure that out. Of course, I was never supposed to be informed of this. They kept… still keep things from me, hoping, praying that I won't turn against them. Because if I were to…" He scowled and cut off Tazuna's next question, namely how he got a hold on that information and for him to finish his sentence.

"Damn… I can't believe you got me to flap my mouth around like that about stuff I'd rather forget…You almost made me forget what I wanted to say. Gatou is an asshole. Believe me; I won't let him get away with what he's done. What happened to Inari was tragic, but it isn't near enough reason for him to give up on everything like that. Inari's forgotten what Kaiza tried so hard to teach him.

He doesn't understand the difference between physical strength and real strength. Gatou is weak because he stands alone. I don't even have to meet him to know that. He uses money to convince others to do his bidding. It isn't real strength. Real strength is to never give up and to do all you can to protect your precious people. Kaiza had real strength, because he never gave up. Even when he lost both his arms and was about to be killed, he still found the strength to protect what he loved. He tried to protect Inari's heart. He died a hero.

The people of this country have all forgotten what real strength is all about. They're all so taken in by Gatou's financial power that they've forgotten their own." said Naruto, before he got up.

"What power is that?" asked Tazuna.

"The power of a nation. Gatou is just one man; his goons aren't willing to give their life for his money. If you all work together, you can beat him. That's why he's trying to stop the bridge from being completed. That's why he had Kaiza killed. Kaiza had enough strength to unite the people of this country, and if that happened then Gatou would've never managed to do what he did. People only unite under three things: Ideals, symbols and other people. Your bridge has a great chance of becoming a symbol the people can rally under. You're fighting in your own way; you have your own power. It's called courage. You should be proud of yourself old man, you're one of the strongest men I know." said Naruto with one of his special smiles lighting his face.

Tazuna sat silently for a few seconds as he pondered over Naruto's words. Naruto got up and shook his feet in an attempt to dry them. He crouched to put his sandals on. While in that position, he spoke into the night.

"So, what'd you think?" asked Naruto.

Tazuna turned to Naruto, unsure of what he was talking about. Suddenly, a voice came from behind him and startled him severely. He whipped his head around and let out a sigh when he saw who was standing behind him.

"…I didn't know you were so eloquent." said Sasuke, his face as impassive as ever.

Naruto chuckled, his usual expression plastered all over his face. He finished strapping his sandals on and turned to face Sasuke.

"Heh, I have to be. A good Hokage has to be able to give overwhelming speeches at the drop of a hat. I practiced a lot and I realized that a good speech has to come from the heart. You have to say what you believe, because everything else isn't worth saying. You should count yourselves lucky, you've had the honor of listening to the greatest Hokage's first speech." said Naruto.

Sasuke's deadpan expression only made Naruto's grin larger. Naruto then turned to face the pensive Tazuna.

"Tazuna! How long until the bridge is done?" asked Naruto in a firm voice.

"…A week."

"And if you had a hundred more workers?"

"…Four days."

"………What if I used some fire jutsu to make the cement dry faster?" asked Naruto.

"With those conditions, we would be done in a little under two days… If I had actual workers."

"Do you have a manual on bridge building around?"

"…A few."

"Give them to me and we should be done in two or three days." answered Naruto, before he opened the door and headed back inside to finish… start his meal. Tazuna just stared at his back.

'You up to it Otu?

**We should be able to do it. It can't possibly be any harder than tree walking.' **

Sasuke waited until Naruto entered the house to speak.

"Don't pity us; we've no need for it. Concentrate on completing the bridge." said Sasuke before he headed back inside. Tazuna got up and followed a minute later.

Naruto and Sasuke weren't aware of it, but it was exceptionally easy to hear sounds coming from the outside in Tazuna's house if the window was open. Most bedrooms in the house just happened to be positioned so they could see the great view.

And there wasn't a single closed window in the entire house.

Inari overheard them from his room on the second floor and Tsunami and Sakura listened from the guest room next to the main area. None were left unaffected.

* * *

_The next morning at the bridge _

'There aren't as many workers as I thought there would be.

**That's probably Gatou's doing. **

…Are you sure you know what you're doing?

**Yeah, but I didn't even need to spend half the night reading that book. With each worker directing a batch of kage bunshin, this is going pretty well. **

…Don't finish too soon.

**I remember. If we finish it then they'll probably just destroy it. Unless Gatou's interested in making the villagers pay a price to use the bridge. **

Did you think of a way to attract him yet?

**No, but it doesn't matter. There are good chances that he'll come here of his own free will. If he doesn't, we'll just have to get his location out of Zabuza and take it from there. **

How long are we going to work here again?

**8 hours… More if we do overtime. **

Man… This is so freaking boring.**' **

* * *

That night, in Tazuna's house. 

The air around the dinner table was more active than usual as Tazuna excitedly recounted the progress they had made during that day's work. If he was right, if they made as much progress tomorrow as they did today, the bridge would be complete. It seems as though he hadn't believed it when Naruto had promised him great progress. The only ones around the table that weren't taken in by Tazuna's jovial spirit were Sasuke and Inari. The little boy in question was barely even touching his food and kept shooting quick glances at Naruto. Naruto managed to ignore them for a while, until the weight of his curiosity got on top of him and he cracked under the pressure. Naruto set his utensils down and looked directly at Inari. When Inari looked at him again, their eyes locked and Inari found that he was incapable of looking away.

"Inari, if you have something to say to me, just say it already."

Immediately, all movement around the table halted as everyone turned to stare at the two. Silence took hold of the room as Inari worked himself up to ask Naruto what he had wanted to know. Finally, he asked:

"Did you really mean what you said?"

"Every word…? How do you know about that? Did Tazuna tell you?" asked Naruto.

Inari fidgeted a little in his seat before he answered Naruto. He hoped Naruto wouldn't be mad at him.

"No… I overheard you two talking from my room."

Naruto frowned and immediately looked at Tsunami and Sakura. It didn't take him a second to see what he wanted to know.

"…Crap. You weren't supposed to hear that." Naruto said without looking at anyone specific.

"And why not? ... How come you guys keep secrets from me? Aren't we supposed to be a team?" asked Sakura.

"Well, it's nothing personal Sakura-chan. I'm trying to forgive and forget and talking about it all the time isn't exactly helping. As for Sasuke, he doesn't want anyone to interfere and that's easier to do if few people know about it." said Naruto.

Sakura stayed quiet for a few seconds and Naruto thought that had been enough. He was wrong.

"You're avoiding the question." said Sakura staring into Naruto's eyes.

"What? No I'm not. I just answered you." contested Naruto.

"Yes you are. You told me why you were keeping secrets from me. You never told me what they were or why I wasn't supposed to hear them."

**'She got you. She got you bad. **

You are not helping. Not at ALL!'

"Sakura-chan… I…" Naruto wanted to explain, but Sakura wasn't done.

"You, Sasuke-kun and Nishizaki-san… you always leave me out of everything… why? Am I not… good enough? Didn't I get in the unit like everyone else?"

When Naruto saw the appearance of liquid in Sakura's eyes, his psyche took a severe blow.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto started only to find that he had nothing to say. There was only one thing he could think of that would help her feel better, and that was to reveal his secrets to her. Something he could never see himself doing.

Naruto lowered his head and rose from his seat.

"I'm sorry." said Naruto to Sakura before he closed his eyes and turned to Tsunami.

"Tsunami-san, I thank you for this wonderful meal, but I must take my leave." said Naruto.

Everyone immediately turned to stare at Naruto. What he had just said didn't resemble him at all.

"What…? Who are you?" asked Sasuke. For some reason, the day Teishi revealed the truth to them flashed in his mind at that moment.

"Why, I am Naruto."

"…! Open your eyes." demanded Sasuke, as he got up and prepared to create a kunai. The others aside from Sakura all moved away from Naruto.

**'A little help? **

…

**Damn… Why did you choose now to decide to wander in the damn hallways?' **

It was only possible to access the outside world from the room where Kyuubi had been sealed. If Naruto had decided to wander the hallways, then the only way Otu could reach him would be to go inside himself and find him personally.

'**Sakura… you have a lot of power over my brother… Maybe it would be better if you were aware of this. Well, you wanted to know the truth, I'll tell you what you wish… need to know. Good thing Naruto isn't here to stop me.' **

**"**Very well." said Otu before he opened his eyes. His red eyes looked over the rest of the group. Tazuna and Tsunami took a step back while Sakura, Sasuke and Inari froze in shock.

"…It's just a difference in eye color… no need to be so terrified… Well, I guess my pupil's slit shape is also different." said Otu.

"What are you?" asked Sasuke. He was worried at the prospect that their strongest asset had been taken over by something.

"I used to have a name, but I threw it away. I lost too much of its essence to be able to call myself that anymore. Now I use the name my brother gave me. You can call me Uzumaki Oturan. Otu for short."

"Oturan? Naruto spelled backwards?" muttered Sakura.

"Where is Naruto." asked Sasuke.

"My brother is currently wandering the confines of our being. I can't reach him from here, I would have to go inside myself and I can't do that. We could be attacked at any time."

"Why did Naruto leave?" asked Sakura.

"Oh, that was your fault."

"What? What did I do?" demanded Sakura.

"You cried. Naruto hates anything that makes you cry. Since he made you cry, he hates himself. However, it shouldn't take him more than a few minutes to stop moping and come back, so we have to hurry." explained Otu.

"..Why do we have to hurry?" asked Sasuke.

"Didn't you want to know the truth? Naruto's never going to tell you, so I have to do it. If he were here, he would stop me, but since he isn't…"

"Why are you doing this?" asked Tazuna.

"Because… I believe that Naruto is overreacting. He is scared. He is convinced that if you knew the truth, you would hate him just like everyone else. I keep telling him that if you hate him because of that then you weren't really our friends, but he never listens. We don't have a lot of time, so ask any question you want and I'll answer it as best I can." said Otu.

Now that Otu had revealed itself as a non-hostile being, the others relaxed… slightly.

Sasuke was the first to ask a question.

"Who exactly are you? How long have you been here?"

"I told you already, I am Uzumaki Oturan. I am one of the two halves that make up Uzumaki Naruto. I came into existence a year ago when Teishi took the original Naruto to Babylon. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but something did and I was created."

Tazuna asked the question that had been nagging at him since he heard Naruto's life story the day before.

"Why do the villagers hate Naruto so much?"

"That's a hard question to answer. If you hear it, it'll forever change your view of us and it'll severely alter your view of the world. Are you sure you wish to know?" asked Otu.

Everyone took a second to search inside themselves. One by one, they all nodded.

"Alright, you asked for it. Does everyone here know about the story of the nine-tailed demon fox?" When everyone nodded, he continued.

"Now, you all know that when Kyuubi attacked Konoha, the Fourth Hokage gave up his life to end the beast's rampage. Of course, that's the storybook version. What most people don't know or seem to be able to recall is that there is no known way to kill a demon. So while the Konoha Academy history books will tell you that the Fourth Hokage killed the beast, that's just something the Third made up to cover up the truth.

The only known way to stop a demon is to seal it… and since there is currently no safe way to seal it in an object, a human being is the only alternative. Of course, not just any human being can house a demon, an adult's chakra pathways are already well established and introducing such a foreign element into his body would only destroy it. So the only option left is a child."

The conclusion wasn't hard to draw. Taking into consideration their knowledge of the tragedy, Naruto's age and the sight before them, the five of them got it instantly. Otu interjected before any of them could react in an unfortunate way.

"12 years ago the Nine-tailed demon fox was sealed in this body, using the technique known as Shiki fuujin. It is a summoning technique that exchanges the user's life for the death god's service. The fourth Hokage gave his life to seal Kyuubi into me. Apparently, his last wish was for me to be seen as a hero. As you already know, that request was denied… violently." explained Otu with Naruto's usual expression on his face… except for some reason, the grin looked far more sinister when Otu was in control.

"So… you're the nine-tailed demon fox?" asked Sakura, slowly moving to a defensive position.

"No. He isn't." Sasuke interrupted Sakura's movement and attracted the attention of those behind him. "I remember… Nishizaki-sensei said you had defeated the demon… I didn't know what he meant then. You defeated Kyuubi?" asked Sasuke.

"It wasn't exactly a fight, more like a contest of will. I don't know what happened exactly, my memory of the event is sketchy at best… you'd have to ask my brother for that. Anyway, in the end, Naruto won and the Kyuubi was assimilated. We became a hanyou, kept its power and were slightly influenced by its personality. Maybe you didn't notice, but Naruto's a little calmer and I don't get excited easily. The true difference only comes up when we fight though. Naruto's more violent than he used to be and I'm what other shinobi would call blood-thirsty, but a lot of shinobi are like that so it doesn't really matter." replied Otu.

"Why do you call him your brother?" asked Inari, far less fearful since it had been revealed that Otu was a part of Naruto. He believed that no part of Naruto would ever hurt an innocent. He was right, but his mother wasn't quite as convinced.

"Well, both of us were created from the original Naruto and Kyuubi, so technically, they are our parents and he is my brother. In case you haven't noticed, we take far more after Naruto than Kyuubi… Do you mind if I change? This is a little uncomfortable." said Otu.

"Uh… ok." said Tazuna, a little surprised at the question.

Immediately, some changes happened to Naruto's body. His fingernails lengthened and sharpened into claws, his four incisors transformed into full blown fangs and the whisker marks on his cheeks darkened. A ripping sound appeared as a large fluffy tail grew from his lower back and tore through the back of his pants. It was gold in color and almost shone when light hit it. It was nearly as long as he was tall and quite large. He then wrapped it around his waist and sighed.

"Oh yeah… much better… what?" asked Otu.

"…You have a tail?" asked Sakura, amazed, Tsunami stared as well. It was soo pretty and it looked sooo soft…

"Yeah… I actually have nine. So does my brother, but they make him feel self-conscious so he always cuts his off… Since I know you're interested, I also have fuzzy fox ears." said Otu with an impish smile on his face. "…Wanna pet it?" said Otu as he unwrapped his tail and waved it in front of her face. Almost without her consent, her trembling hand lifted and reached for the tail. A look to her right revealed that Tsunami and Inari were undergoing the same process. Once they started petting it, they realized that under that wonderful… fuzzy…warm… softness was some solid muscle.

While the other three were petting the tail, Sasuke was muttering to himself.

"So that's how you beat me. You used the Kyuubi's power."

"Don't be so full of yourself Sasuke. My brother beat you without it; if he had used it then you would've felt our aura… That reminds me, you'd better prepare yourself. You-know-who is going to come after me sooner or later. Unless you want me to take care of him then you'd best be ready." Sasuke stared at Otu before nodding.

"Besides, Teishi says it all the time. When it comes to power, I'm the best. Fights can't all be won with power alone though and we still have a lot to learn. We may have a lot more chakra than everyone else but we can't exactly release it all, since our chakra control is so bad too much chakra would just destroy the pathways. Demonic chakra is harder to control than the normal kind." said Otu. He then frowned and closed his eyes.

"Hmm… Naruto's taking too long. He should've come back by now." said Otu worriedly.

"Hey… why did Naruto leave in the first place?" asked Sakura, still petting the tail with one hand.

"He loves you too much." explained Otu.

Everyone froze… again. When Otu saw Sakura's reaction, he raised an eyebrow and said:

"You forgot? He used to say it all the time! Every single day for a very long while. I don't see how you could forget. I'm pretty sure even Sasuke remembers and he couldn't possibly have paid less attention." said Otu, incredulous.

"I… I didn't forget, I just… He didn't say anything when he came back! I thought that maybe he had gotten over it or that he… I don't know, I thought it was just a silly little crush!" exclaimed Sakura, blushing in embarrassment.

"Nope, Naruto's serious… really serious. He didn't say anything because he was tricked into following Teishi's fool-proof method to get women, which is to do nothing. He called it playing 'hard-to-get'. It has to be the stupidest thing I ever heard but Naruto bought it.

Actually, Naruto thought that was the reason Sasuke was so popular and promptly decided do exactly what Teishi said. As we can see, it was a profound failure… To tell you the truth, since we're the same person, I love you just as much as he does, but you don't have as much hold over my emotions." said Otu with a perfectly straight face.

Tsunami couldn't believe it. That had to be the worst confession she had ever witnessed. At first, she had been a little scared of Otu, but he was just too similar to Naruto for her to feel any fear. He was just as straight-forward as Naruto with one key difference: Naruto held back some things that he felt were too embarrassing, while Otu said anything he felt without preamble. She had gotten to know Naruto and it would take more than his being a hanyou for her to hate him. She had already known he was powerful; the fact that she now knew the source of that power didn't matter much. No matter what he did or said, he was still very much a little boy.

She couldn't stand back any longer and let Naruto go on with such bad advice. She had to educate him in the ways of love.

"Otu-kun… as soon as Naruto comes back, I'm going to have a talk with you two." said Tsunami in the midst of the silence.

"Ok. Sure, no problem, I'll just… oh crap I can't." said Otu.

"What's wrong?" asked Tsunami.

"Well… I was going to go get my brother, but I can't go now. What if I go and we get attacked? I have to stay here and protect you guys." explained Otu.

"Isn't there another way? Is his absence going to limit your ability?" asked Sasuke.

"There is another way, and I can't fight as well as Naruto. We both have the exact same abilities, but he's simply more talented than I." explained Otu.

"How can we bring Naruto back?" asked Sakura, she felt that it was her fault. That she was too weak to know about their secrets. She wanted to explain to Naruto that he didn't have to blame himself every time she did something wrong.

"Well, you'd have to go look for him yourselves. If I let you, you'll automatically be transported inside our sanctuary. If I don't, then you'd have to use a seal. If you're hostile then you'll get a… nasty surprise."

"Sanctuary? What's that?" asked Inari. He had been planning on asking Naruto a few questions, to know if he should follow what he had said last night. Naruto's speech had resonated with the lessons that Kaiza had taught him, and combined they were enough to renew his faith. Learning about Naruto's past just cemented his resolve. The fact that Naruto was a hanyou didn't even enter the equation. He decided to just put his trust in Naruto, in his grandfather, in Sasuke, Sakura and the bridge.

"It's kind of what you guys call a subconscious, but not really since I can actually explore it. Since I'm a hanyou, I have more control over my body and my mind than other humans. That's why I can easily reach my sanctuary. But anyway, there's no way I'm letting you guys in." said Otu.

"Why not?" asked Sakura, in a threatening voice. She also started squeezing the tail she was still holding.

"Because it's too dangerous! To find him you'd have to wander around the halls and maybe open a few doors. You'd get lost in my memories. Even Teishi never goes past the first room. Either I go or no one does and I am not going. We'll just have to wait for… Will you stop that? That hurts." Sakura was in the middle of tying a knot with the tail when Otu just started shaking it until she let go. "It doesn't matter anyway, he may not be here now but he'll probably come back as soon as he feels pain. You should get some sleep. We'll probably have to fight tomorrow and you're not fully healed yet Sakura. I'm going outside, to keep watch." said Otu before he walked to the door, opened it and walked out.

"…He's right, I'm going to go hit the sack." said Tazuna as he left the room. He had some thinking to do. It would take him longer, but by the time he would wake up tomorrow he would treat Naruto the same way he always did. His reasoning was simple, if slightly somber: He had known that Naruto could kill him, did the fact that he could kill him with more ease than he thought really matter? The answer was no. Besides, he happened to trust the little brat.

"…Sasuke-kun, what do we do?" asked Sakura.

"Nothing. Nishizaki-sensei obviously knows about Oturan. If he didn't do anything about him, then he must approve of his presence." said Sasuke.

"Not about that! About Naruto!" said Sakura.

"…I'm sure he'll be back soon. There's no reason to go get him. If he's not back by tomorrow night then we'll go get him, no matter what Otu says." said Sasuke.

"Thank you. Sasuke-kun." said Sakura.

"……I'm going to bed." said Sasuke before he leaving Sakura in the dining room alone. He wasn't all that surprised by Naruto's past. He had had his suspicions since the first day he became Teishi's agent. Now that he knew the reason why Naruto was so strong, he realized that it didn't change much. He knew that Teishi, who had no such power, could beat Naruto and he planned to do the same. At this point, he considered Naruto as one of the five strongest people he knew. The first was his brother, the second was the Third, the third was Teishi, Naruto came in fourth and in fifth place was Kakashi, if only because he possessed a sharingan. He reminded himself to up his training schedule as soon as he got back.

Sakura sat down on a chair and sighed. She didn't know what to do, so she would wait.

* * *

Early the next morning, Otu was lying on the roof watching the sunrise. The orange light gleamed against the lake water and created a truly beautiful sight. But Otu couldn't enjoy it to its full extent. 

Tsunami was cooking breakfast and the others were getting ready to accompany Tazuna to the bridge. Inari was still sleeping. Naruto hadn't come back yet and it was taking him everything he had not to go and find him. Suddenly, he sat up on the roof. He could feel his brother approaching and just a few seconds later he was back.

'**Ok. Where were you? It's been hours. **

I went to the room with the music box, I listened to it for a while and I guess I fell asleep… What'd I miss?

**...Uh… Well, you see…… Let's switch.**

?... Okay… Wait a second… Claws? Fangs! TAIL! OTU! What if someone had seen you?

**…You don't need to worry about that…**'

"Otu-kun! Come eat breakfast!" called Tsunami from the dining room window.

'………

**………**

……Otu…you didn't….

**Someone had to do it and if it were up to you then you'd never tell them. **

………

**Sigh… Look Naruto, you shouldn't be so scared. Everything is going to turn out just fine. Don't you trust them? **

Of course I do! I just… I can't help it…

**…Are you going to run away again? **

No. Even if they hate me after this, I'll just have to keep moving forward… I can't give up. Did you tell them everything?

**I just answered their questions. They know about me and where I came from. **

So you told them everything. Well, I can't avoid it now, might as well end it.'

Naruto walked off the edge of the roof and landed in a crouch on the pier below. He walked to the door and mentally prepared himself for what awaited him on the other end. He also turned his claws into fingernails and returned his fangs to their shorter size. He thought about cutting his tail off, but since they had already seen it and it would hurt like hell to take it off, he decided to just leave it where it was. He braced himself for the worst and opened the door.

"Ah! Otu-kun, there you are! Take a seat we're about to…" that's when she noticed the eye color. "Naruto-kun?" He nodded in acknowledgment to her query.

Tsunami's smile grew wider and she ushered Naruto inside and sat him on a chair. She then started setting the plates and warned Naruto not to touch the food, something she did at every meal.

Naruto confusedly stared at her and looked for any sign that this was just an act. He came up with nothing. Then Sasuke and Inari came in.

"Hey Otu-oniichan! Is Naruto-oniichan back yet?"

Naruto turned around in his seat and asked: "When did you start calling me that?"

Inari was saved from answering by Sasuke's interruption.

"So you're back… took you long enough. I didn't think you'd waste all that time moping." said Sasuke.

"Hey! I didn't mope! I was just… contemplating the state of… things for more than 10 minutes, I was just… seduced into… uh… closing my eyes for a little bit. It just took me a few hours to… gather the strength I needed to open them again, that's all." said Naruto.

"…You fell asleep?" asked Inari.

"………Yes." answered Naruto.

Inari and Sasuke shook their head and sat down. Naruto once again searched them to find if their normalcy was an act. Once again, he came up with nothing.

A few minutes later, Tazuna came in and he too treated Naruto like he always did. Naruto did the mandatory soul searching and came up with zilch.

So when Sakura came in, Naruto turned to face her and said: "Hi! Sakura-chan!" exactly the same way he always did.

When Sakura starting trembling in rage, he knew something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

"You…! Idiot! You make us worry so much… and you don't even care!" She then walked up to him and slapped him… hard. And when I say slap, I mean the type of slap that uses the power of the entire body and leaves a bruise on the palm of your hand. After the deed was done, she stomped on his tail for hurting her hand, walked across of the room and slammed the door. The others stared as Naruto slumped in his chair and beamed.

"Well… Everything's back to normal."

* * *


	7. Chapter 6

Well, this chapter gave me a lot of trouble. I had to rewrite huge sections multiple times. I'm pretty satisfied with the result though. I hope the next chapter won't take so long. On the other hand... CHUUNIN EXAM!11!11!\! Anyway, thanks for all the reviews. Even if you don't think I mean you, I do. (Well, except you Money. Fix your damn computer.) By the way, there's a reason why no one ventured inside the sanctuary. You'll find out at the end of the chuunin exam. And one thing you should all keep in mind is that Teishi's information isn't absolute. He's just human, he is wrong every once in a while. It's up to you guys to seperate the facts from the mistakes. Happy hunting.

* * *

Something wasn't quite right… usually when he entered their hideout, Haku would immediately cease what he was doing and come greet him. However, Haku was still bent over the desk, writing in what appeared to be his shinobi handbook. Considering the fact that they hadn't seen each other for a few days, this was quite worrisome. 

Zabuza walked up to Haku and laid a hand on his shoulder. Haku stiffened for an instant before he realized who it was.

"Ah! Zabuza-san!" Haku turned and bowed as he greeted him. "I'm sorry, I was a little preoccupied."

Zabuza ignored him and focused on what Haku was working on prior to his interruption. Now that he was closer, he could see his handbook opened on what had previously been a blank page. He walked past Haku and examined it. There was a picture of a boy that appeared to be Naruto, except this boy's hair was much longer. On the other hand, they did look exactly alike, down to those odd marks he bore on each cheek. The boy in the picture was in mid kick; it appeared that the picture had been taken while he was training. There was some information written on the rest of the page.

Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha genin. Age unknown.

Notable features: An estimated 70 chance of becoming Hokage. Very kind, but is far more dangerous than he lets on.

His known signature abilities include Kage bunshin no jutsu, an unknown Raiton jutsu and his allegiance aura, although that seems to be more of a side-effect. It is possible that it is a genjutsu, but there is a good chance that it is not.

**Warning**, this boy has exhibited extraordinary recovery time. Small wounds are practically useless, only critical damage is effective.

His physical abilities are somewhat ambiguous, but he seems to possess great speed and strength.

Shinobi rank: A or S. Need more information to make proper judgment.

When he read the last line, Zabuza almost jerked in surprise. Instead, he calmly turned to Haku and asked him what the margin of error was.

"Little to none."

"...What's this about an aura?"

"It appears when he unleashes his full strength; basically it increases his team's morale and intimidates his enemies. I felt the effects myself and it is quite effective."

"You came into contact with him?"

"Yes, I attempted to watch him from a distance, but he noticed me when I came closer. He just ignored me and continued his training. From my observations, if his guard is up then he can notice anything living within a 30 meter radius. It can go down to 10 if he's preoccupied and I believe it can go up if he's looking for something specific."

"What do you suggest?"

"I can only see two ways to win. Kill him instantly or render him unable to attack. My special ice mirrors will be ineffective, he's too fast. After a few minutes at full speed, I will have slowed down enough for him to catch me. Needles don't do enough damage and any other weapon is too slow for me to use."

"Alright, since neither of us is particularly good at genjutsu then the only alternative is to overwhelm him with as much power as we can muster. The first minute is critical; we have to damage him enough to slow his reaction time, that's when we'll take him down."

"I will be helping you?"

"Yeah, I'm not willing to take any chances. We can't die here; we still have to kill the Mizukage and reform the Hidden Mist."

"What about his teammates?"

"He'll probably fight us alone… if he doesn't, then you'll need to take them down. Be ruthless Haku, we can't afford to waste time."

"Understood, Zabuza-san."

* * *

An hour later, after breakfast, Naruto and Sasuke were escorting Tazuna to the bridge. They were both fully armed, but only Sasuke was wearing the suit. Naruto had told Sakura (through Sasuke), that she would stay and protect Tsunami and Inari in case Gatou sent someone to kidnap them. Since she wasn't fully healed yet, he planted a couple (dozen) kage bunshin around the area. He was having a little difficulty maintaining the link from this distance.

They were walking on a dirt road bordered on one side by forest and on the other by a large lake. According to Tazuna, this was the fastest way to get to the bridge. Naruto was walking with his arms crossed behind his head and his golden tail swishing back to forth in front of Tazuna and Sasuke.

"Naruto, are you going to the bridge like that?" asked Sasuke.

"Yep! I'm sure everything's going to turn out fine." answered Naruto.

"Naruto… I want to thank you." said Tazuna.

"Hmm? Why?" asked Naruto.

"Because… you've managed to bring my grandson back to the way he used to be… before everything. For that I will never thank you enough." explained Tazuna.

"Don't worry about it. You don't have to thank…" Naruto stopped walking at that point and uncrossed his arms. "I guess it's that time." said Naruto to tree on the right.

"It looks like you gained a new… appendage while I was gone." said Zabuza as he and Haku left their hiding spots. They were both wearing their usual clothing, except Haku who was unmasked. Not even Zabuza could conceal his surprise and both gave surprised looks at Naruto's golden tail.

"Nah, it isn't new, I just grew it back yesterday. Zabuza, Haku… I have a proposition for you. I would like it if you both joined me." said Naruto.

At that, Zabuza eyes strayed from Naruto's tail and stared into his eyes.

"What was that?"

"I said, I would like it if you both joined me, us. Our country, our unit."

Zabuza started chuckling in response to Naruto's words. He abruptly stopped, making it apparent that he did not find the situation humorous.

"You want us to join your country? Never! I'll never stoop to being some puppet…"

"NO." Naruto's rejection was loud and fierce, his voice distorting into a sort of half growl. That by itself was more than enough to stop Zabuza's incoming tirade but Naruto's tail ensured that he would get a chance to speak by slamming hard against the ground and causing the earth to crack and tremble. Naruto's hands tightened into fists, almost hard enough to make himself bleed. He closed his eyes (He knew it wasn't a good idea, but he couldn't care less at the moment.), took a deep breath and loosened his tense body before thinking of continuing. Anger wouldn't accomplish anything. Sasuke gave him a cursory glance before turning back to look at their enemies for an attack.

"Are you okay Naruto?" asked Tazuna, out of concern for the boy's state of mind.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" reassured Naruto before turning back to Zabuza and Haku.

"Zabuza, the idea that shinobi are just tools to be used… I'll crush it, with everyone who upholds it." The amount of sheer menace in Naruto's voice at that point was staggering, yet Zabuza held no illusions about the likelihood of Naruto's ambitions.

"You're a fool, boy. What you want to accomplish is impossible. To do that you'd have to…

"I know, why else would I need the help of men like you?" asked Naruto.

Zabuza stared at Naruto to try and see if Naruto meant what he thought he meant. As he still wasn't sure, he decided to ask.

"Let me get this straight. You want to take down the current dynasty?" At that, Haku and Tazuna both stared at Naruto, evidently shocked. If it was true, this boy planned to commit treason.

"Yes. Before you say anything, think about it. The only way to do this is to unite the strength of all the villages. You were an elite jounin; you have to know that all the Hidden Villages hate having to rely on the daimyo for their funding. Look what happened to the sand!"

"The mist will never agree to something like that." said Zabuza.

"I know that, it'd be great if we could do it all peacefully, but I'm not that optimistic. The real problem with the mist isn't its inhabitants… but its kage. From the first to the current one, they are all idiots. You should know this best of all… Zabuza." said Naruto.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Sasuke.

"There are too many things to list, but I'll name two major incidents. The first is the old graduation test. The student had to fight in a life or death battle against their own classmates. To become a genin, they had to kill their own comrades. Since the kage title is something that is usually passed from teacher to student, this atrocity continued on for generations. They don't do it now because the man you see before you somehow got into the examination area and killed over 100 students. The problem is that he wasn't one of the students."

Somehow, that little fact made Zabuza appear a lot more fearsome to Tazuna.

"The second incident is what they called the 'Great' bloodline purge. Basically, the Mizukage let the denizens of the Mist kill all those who possessed bloodlines. The problem with the Mizukage is that he truly believes that shinobi are or should be mindless puppets. He trained his ninja to become like that, and that made them become incredibly unstable. Just look at what happened to the Kaguya clan. When the war was over, they attacked their own village because they couldn't live without battle. It was all they knew how to do. So they continued doing it, right until their deaths. In fact, that's probably why he authorized the purge in the first place, because he was scared of his own stupidity! People are not tools and they can't magically transform into them either. He doesn't understand that just because someone acts like a tool doesn't mean he is one!"

"Tell me, boy… Why do you want to do this? What can you hope to gain from this?" asked Zabuza. A quick look to his side revealed that Haku had been strongly affected by Naruto speech. It seems as though he hadn't gotten over the bloodline purge.

In truth, Haku's belief on true shinobi was what had taken a blow. He always had his doubts on whether he'd be able to become a perfect tool for Zabuza, and Naruto's words only amplified them.

"I want to see a world where war isn't something that's expected. I want a world where shinobi aren't just contract killers. I want a world…. where jinchuuriki aren't necessary." said Naruto.

"…So you're a…" Naruto shook his head.

"Not anymore, I'm a hanyou now." revealed Naruto.

Zabuza stared at Naruto, unbelieving. It wasn't so much the fact that Naruto used to be a jinchuuriki (The tail made that pretty obvious), it was the fact that his personality did not suit a jinchuuriki. He had never heard of a human sacrifice acting like that.

"Even so, why should I follow you? How do I know you'll succeed?" asked Zabuza.

Once it was revealed that he and Naruto had a similar opinion on the Mizukage, the offer became a lot more alluring.

"Zabuza, words alone won't be enough to convince you, just like determination will not accomplish anything without power to back it up. I've shown you my resolve… all that's left is my power. Prepare yourselves, I am coming."

'**Nice one. I could've done better though.**

You're just jealous.

**I AM NO……… Why would I desire something that I already have? You and I are the same.**

Hey, I never said it made sense; I just said you were jealous and you're not exactly proving me wrong.

**Enough. Let's concentrate on important things. How will you fight?**

…Screw planning. Let's wing it.'

"Sasuke, think you can handle Haku?" asked Naruto. Even though he couldn't see him, he could practically feel Sasuke's cocky grin.

* * *

'**Naruto, snap out of it! You didn't do anything wrong, THEY attacked US! They would've killed us in a heartbeat and you know it. They probably would've killed any villager they came across too. **

I know… it's just… I didn't _feel_ anything! This isn't normal!**'**

Things were royally fucked up. Right before the two teams started fighting, they were interrupted by a third group that came from the forest. This group was composed entirely of Gatou's hired thugs, over 150 armed mercenaries.

The mercs informed Zabuza that his contract with Gatou was rendered void, effective immediately because of his inability to complete his mission. Immediately after, they ordered them to give up the old man and promised them that no harm would come to them.

Naturally, Naruto refused and tried to work out a compromise. The mercs refused. This is where things begin to go from bad to downright deadly.

Someone, it wasn't clear who, decided that it would be a good idea to just kill the old man there and be done with it. Said man shot an arrow at Tazuna, aimed at his throat. Luckily for Tazuna, the man was a poor shot and the arrow hit him in the shoulder, a few inches above his lung. It had pierced through and the arrowhead stuck out a few inches from his back.

Naruto's head whipped around and he stared shakily at the arrow imbedded into Tazuna's shoulder. He could see the blood beginning to seep into the old man's clothes. He could hear the moans of pain coming from one of the few people that had ever accepted him for what he truly was. He could see one of his precious people in pain and he could also see the ones responsible for it.

That was it. The time for negotiations was over.

Naruto slowly felt it surface but was powerless to stop it. The one thing that was always there, no matter what he did. It was always lurking somewhere in his psyche, disrupting all it touched and infecting them with its will. And it desired only one thing, absolute destruction, devastation, the obliteration of everything that it encountered. Ever since the merge it's been there, imprinted in his very blood, tainting his very source, his soul.

A year before, Teishi had thought that Naruto's decreased dominance in personality would change things. He was correct but he still has no idea just how correct he is. Teishi believed that Naruto's rage came from the devil inside but even he wasn't aware of the truth. The Kyuubi's mark, its mindless rage had progressed… evolved to the point where it was almost sentient… almost because it didn't have its own body in the sanctuary… yet. It could not take control, it could only influence, corrupt. It was a natural warrior; it knew which fights were worth fighting. It had already consumed Naruto's devil in an attempt to gain the upper hand in its struggle for dominance. Fortunately, its lack of mental faculties is responsible for the fact that it did not realize that in Naruto's sanctuary, spirit is the only true power. Unfortunately, its union has given it the intelligence it previously lacked. So it decided to wait… to continue to lurk and creep around the sanctuary… waiting for a time when he (he… it? He/It wasn't sure.) would be able to influence Naruto's actions. Because even when he/it had the barest mental functions, he/it could recognize that Naruto was by far and away the most powerful of the three.

If Teishi knew the truth, he would estimate the three's Naruto-Kyuubi ratio in a different way than what he had previously stated. Naruto actually has the exact same personality he had in the other timeline, 90-10. The nameless being is the exact opposite of Naruto, 10-90. Oturan is balance between the two others, 50-50. The reason why Teishi hasn't noticed the great difference in Otu's personality, is that Otu is the least likely to feel any type of emotion. He is almost purely logical, but is quite easily influenced by his brother and his emotions. It remains to be seen if that fact also applies to his nameless brother.

When the nameless being felt Naruto's personality begin to stir with rage, it seized its chance and amplified it, multiplied it and stimulated its growth. Naruto immediately went feral and his aura instantly convinced the injured Tazuna, the tense Sasuke, the angered Zabuza and the serene Haku that interfering would be a bad idea. Sasuke moved closer to Tazuna and started patching him up while Zabuza and Haku moved behind Naruto and away from any attacks. None of them had any illusions on what was about to happen, and surprisingly, none of them blamed him for it. Zabuza and Haku didn't care, Sasuke understood why and Tazuna felt that a single death was too good for those bastards. The mere fact that they were employed by Gatou revealed that they were some of the worst kind of men… some of them thieves and rapists, all of them murderers. He had seen enough of what men like that were capable of.

Zabuza thought to himself that he was about to get one hell of a demonstration. He was right.

Naruto's opponents were all frozen in fear. None of them could do as much as scream, they helplessly watched the monster in a boy's body prowl towards them, Naruto's cold blue eyes spelling out a single truth to all of them.

_You will die today. You will die for your actions and I shall be your executioner._

Those that would witness the battle that took place on that day could only describe it with one word. Truthfully, it was the only word they needed.

It was a slaughter.

Those that were in front of the pack didn't know what hit them. When Naruto swung his arm and released death from his claws, they fell quickly and painlessly, their flesh vaporized, burnt and torn. In some cases, there wasn't anything left after the attack. The gruesome death of their comrades was enough to force the other mercenaries into action. Simultaneously, they all turned to run as fast as their legs could take them. Some ran to the lake to try and escape through the water, some ran into the forest and some decided to follow the path.

Naruto formed multiple handseals and started walking towards the lake. When he reached the shore, he softly whispered…

_Hyouton jutsu: Curse of the blue flame_

…right before a small blue flame materialized in the palm of his hand. He bent down on his knee and raised his hand to his mouth before he blew the small flame onto the water. The flame spread like a normal flame would on something flammable, except this flame didn't turn matter into ash… it morphed water into frost.

The young boy watched solemnly as the blue flame transformed the surface of the lake and the bodies of those that came into contact with it into a giant layer of ice with 17 ice statues depicting mercenaries in various poses of agony. Those that had gotten far enough dived deep to avoid it and simply drowned.

Naruto got up and turned his icy gaze onto the rest of the mercenaries, their advance cut off by a few dozen stone faced clones. He didn't bother to look for those that had escaped to the forest, they were already dead. His clones had killed them all before any of them could reach the nearby village. The remaining mercs watched, horrified as the lake _burned_, their hopes for survival crumbling and some of their bladders loosening.

At this point, Naruto and Otu decided that their lack of fighting spirit was pathetic to the point that it actually irritated them. Immediately, his aura stopped affecting his victims.

For a second, Naruto wondered how he had done that. Then he recalled that he had always believed his aura to be an extension of himself… a way to communicate without words… then again, his aura was so many things at once that he had trouble remembering them all. So he just shook his head and said:

"Tell you what. I have things to do today and fighting you pathetic cowards isn't high on the list. I'm going to give you this one and only opportunity to run so why don't you chickens just beat it." said Naruto before he dismissed his kage bunshin and headed back to the others.

Slowly, little by little, Naruto's words penetrated in their insecure minds and hit them in a place where they were completely unprotected… their pride. For these men, who had no wives, no siblings, no families to speak of... who had no jobs, no prospects, no future… who considered their pride to be the only thing they had left that was worth fighting for… losing to a lone little boy was not a blow they could not take. They could've handled a loss from a larger army, or a couple dozen shinobi, but a single boy? No, running away with their tails between their legs wasn't something their pride could survive. As far as they were concerned… there was only one way to truly survive this event… and that was to win. And that meant they had to kill this freak.

Quickly, many whispers flew between the mercenaries and eventually, it was decided that their earlier fear was a result of what was called a genjutsu. More whispers, and a strategy was devised. Their only chance of winning would be to seal off his ninjutsu. And Naruto's earlier speech clued them in on a single fact: That little monster was probably as prideful as they were; he was bound to underestimate them. All it would take was a knife in the back and they would win! With their numbers, there's no way they could lose. They quickly brought forth a spokesperson and executed their (feeble) plan.

"Big man walking around shooting off those fancy jutsu, but it takes a real man to fight with your body. Nothing you would understand boy."

Naruto froze and turned to face them once more. He had hoped that at least one of them would have taken him up on his offer but he was disappointed to find that they hadn't even budged.

"…I guess this is the part where I accept your challenge and get killed because of my foolish pride right? Fine, I'll do it your way. Let me say something first… this way is far more painful than the other. Are you sure you want to go through with this? There's no going back." warned Naruto.

"Oh yeah, we're sure." said the man with a self-satisfied grin on his face. After all, there was no way they could lose.

"…It's your funeral."

Naruto started with a slow walk, then went to a slow jog, then a quick jog and then he suddenly sprinted at full speed until he was in the middle of their ranks. Before they could react, he quickly unsheathed his sword and swing at full strength, separating 5 torsos from their bodies, their blood flying everywhere and covering everything. At that moment, he learned why it's a good idea to keep your mouth closed during a fight. Spitting out the blood, he quickly leaned to the right to avoid an attacking spearman.

Naruto wrapped his tail around the spear and used his greater strength to pry it from his opponent. He then decapitated the spearman and impaled another Merc with the spear.

He blocked a sword strike and punched his attacker in the face. To his surprise, the man's skull cracked violently and turned his face into unrecognizable mush from the sheer force, enveloping his fist in blood.

As he dodged a blow from a man armed with two swords and retaliated with a devastating blow from his tail, he recalled a lesson that Teishi had taught him… or Otu, he couldn't tell at the moment.

In any case, Teishi had taught him that chakra was a natural enhancer. It increases the strength of the body with its mere presence. He was taught that some shinobi liked to improve the performance of some of their limbs by focusing more of their chakra in them. Of course, their limbs had to be strong enough to handle the extra strain, or the muscles and ligaments would rip under the pressure.

Chakra was the reason why a twelve year old boy was stronger than most full grown men.

The information most pertinent to his situation is when Teishi told him that chakra was incredibly important to defense as well. He had warned him that while all ninja were able to resist great impacts, people not trained in chakra were far more… delicate. He was then immediately warned that chakra only increased the body's defense against impacts, not against cuts. So while it was possible that he might eventually reach a point where punches had little effect, knifes would always be able to cut him.

Teishi's information was proved correct when a spear impaled his shoulder. Now that his element of surprise was gone he was having trouble dodging all their blows. It didn't help that his sword was so coated with blood he was having trouble keeping his hold of it.

Naruto grunted in annoyance and threw his sword into the crowd, followed by the spear that was impaled in his body. The ones in front avoided them, but those behind lost various body parts to the flying blade and one unlucky merc's head was impaled by the spear. Quickly, Naruto formed his claws and jumped back into the crowd. He somersaulted in mid-air to avoid attacks and landed on his hands, immediately spin kicking those around him, crushing many.

Landing on his feet, he rolled forward, grabbing a fallen sword in the process. He blocked an overhead strike with the sword and sliced the attacker's throat with his claws, the blood gushing out and getting into his eyes, blinding him.

Blinded, Naruto was impaled with three spears, one in each lung and another in the stomach. Quickly, he raised the sword he borrowed and cut through the spears, breaking the sword in the process. He wiped the blood from his eyes just in time to duck under an axe that would've decapitated him. He took the spearhead from his stomach and impaled it in his attacker's throat.

He removed the two stuck in his lungs and grabbed the wooden parts still remaining, using the spearheads as knives. A quick look around revealed that there were only 8 enemies left, surrounding him. He overheard one of the mercs saying that he must've been close to death; he had taken a spear in each lung. Hiding a grin, Naruto decided to act the part and after he repaired the damage to his lungs, he stopped healing the flesh wound.

When his enemies saw him, blood coating his body, tail lying limply on the ground, they were nearly convinced of his imminent death. It was only when he coughed up a little blood that they were convinced.

Three of them came running at him, two from in front of him and one from behind, their blood pumping at the thought of sweet revenge. Naruto leaned to the right to avoid the spear as he threw both of his spearheads into the head of one of the incoming mercs. He took hold of the spear and backhanded the spearman at full strength, then used the spear to impale the incoming swordsman's lung. For some reason, the reaction of that man's head to being backhanded reminded Naruto of the time when he had dropped a watermel…. he abruptly cut off that line of thought. Comparing human bei… _people_ to food wasn't something he wanted to be doing.

This is the moment where Naruto and Otu separate and their perfect synchronization comes to an end. The one with no name terminated its influence before any of the two detected its/his presence.

'What was _that_?

**No time, we still have 5 mercs to kill.**

No, this is important.

**We can't be distracted during a fight Naruto. It goes against everything Teishi taught us.**

I know… I just can't help but feel something's wrong.

**If you can't fully concentrate, at least let our wounds heal.'**

While Naruto was busy healing all of his damage, four of the remaining mercenaries decided that it would be a good idea to hold the others hostage. Naruto didn't bother to intercept them. He merely turned and watched as Zabuza's head cleaver moved through them like it was passing through air. The four men stopped and dropped to the floor, the impact causing them to separate into several parts, their blood slowly leaking into the ground.

'**Man… Zabuza's sword is so much better than ours. We'd never be able to manage a cut like that with this one.'**

It was then, when the fight reached a standstill, that Naruto realized it. This was the first time he had ever taken the life of another person. He tried to remember the face of the first one to fall, and when he couldn't he looked around at the bodies of the fallen to see if he could recognize him, before he remembered that his first victims fell to his claws. Somehow, the fact that there wasn't a physical evidence of his first kill made him feel far worse than before, never mind the fact that he had killed so many in so little time or the fact that it had taken him so long to realize it. Above all, the fact that he couldn't even remember some of their faces made him feel awful.

Naruto no longer had any desire to see any more lives lost, especially not by his hand. He turned and walked back to his friends, figuring that the last man would realize that staying would only lead to his death.

"Where are you going? We're not done here." said the remaining man.

Once again, Naruto froze. He looked over his shoulders with a single eye.

"Why are you doing this? You can't win. Even if you manage to kill me, you'll never get past the others. Why don't you just leave? Are you really that willing to throw your life away?" asked Naruto.

There was silence as the merc seemed to consider Naruto's proposal. Naruto noticed something odd about him. The man was bald, wearing a long, brown and baggy robe with long sleeves and no visible weapons. The man looked like he was in his early forties, was a little bit shorter than Zabuza, 180cm to Zabuza's 183, and strangely resembled…

"Wait… What's a monk doing working for a man like Gatou?" asked Naruto.

That seemed to draw him out of his meditation.

"I'm no monk… at least, not anymore. I was thrown out of my order." answered the older monk.

"Why?"

"That does not matter. It's been years since that time... and I do not work for Gatou. I am simply looking for… opportunities to exercise my fighting style." answered the monk.

"That's it? You're doing this because you want to fight? Why don't you just enter a damned tournament then?"

"You do not understand. What is your name boy?" asked the man.

"…Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uzumaki-san, my techniques are the only thing that remains of my past. My only wish is to reminisce in battle. And battle without the intent to hurt, to kill… is merely a sport. Enough talk. You will fight me whether you like it or not." said the monk.

Naruto had other ideas. As soon as his would-be opponent made steps to approach him, he brought on the full force of his aura on him. Unfortunately, it didn't have the required effect. The monk felt panic for a few seconds, hyperventilating and beginning to sweat excessively, His heart pumping so fast it hurt… before he slowly closed his eyes and took deep breaths. After a few seconds of this, he appeared to be completely free of the effects.

"Ahh… yes, this is it! I remember now… the order's meditation techniques. Clears your mind of all thoughts and removes all doubts. All that remains is a clear mind, ready to face whatever trials may come… even death."

With no way to avoid it, Naruto resigned himself to having to fight. But he still hadn't given up. Even if he had to fight, he would make sure that he would not kill.

The monk raised his arms, causing his long sleeves to bunch up at his elbows and revealing something that no one expected.

"…Metal gauntlets?" asked Naruto.

The monk wore shiny gauntlets made of thick metal plates connected by incredibly small chains. The equipment covered the man's hand, his wrist and his forearm up to the elbow. It had to be at least three centimeters thick at the end. Only a master blacksmith could have created something so complicated.

"Yes. The order's fighting style: The iron fist." answered the monk before he dashed towards Naruto, dodging bodies left and right.

Naruto just shook his head and sighed sadly, before he ran forwards to meet him.

The young boy ducked-rolled under the older man's steel clad fist and grabbed him around the waist with his tail. Completing his roll, he spun and threw him at an ice statue. The monk didn't have enough time to right himself and he slammed into the obstacle hard, breaking it into sharp pieces that cut through body. He was unlucky enough that a large piece managed to imbed itself in his back when he landed.

"Huh. You sure are strong." said the man as he laid on the cold lake surface.

'…

…**He can use chakra.**'

The theory was supported by the fact that the man managed to lift himself from his position with relatively little trouble. Other than a damaged rib and the shard of ice in his back, he was perfectly fine.

However, it was only when he quickly formed a succession of 4 handseals and held his right hand to his midsection that it was confirmed. A green glow appeared around the hand that was pressed against his stomach.

"Healing jutsu…"

"Of course. Any self-respecting monk knows one, even if you're a battle oriented monk like myself." answered the man as he removed the ice and healed his wound.

"Then again, you aren't one to talk. You've been healing yourself since the fight started. I don't know how, but you seem to be able to use certain techniques without handseals… and you said that you wouldn't use any jutsu… not very fair, but then again, what shinobi is?" said the old monk.

"Go to hell, bastard. You don't know anything. And I haven't been using any jutsu, all my healing is natural. I don't know any healing jutsu." answered Naruto.

"You expect me to believe that you healed fatal spear wounds without jutsu?"

"Believe what you will, I'm ending this." answered Naruto before he dashed at full speed towards the man, believing that he'd be able to knock him out quickly and take Tazuna to a hospital..

The monk then did something strange. He simply stood there and got into a stance Naruto had never seen before while he was approaching.

He bent his knees slightly and rested his weight on the balls of his feet. He raised his left fist at shoulder level with his left elbow slightly extended and his right fist at chin level, with the elbow close to his body. The oddest thing was when he started to shift and shuffle his feet quickly, all while keeping them close to the ground.

Naruto dismissed the odd stance and kept on his course. When Naruto was a few feet away, he jumped and kicked at the monk's face.

The monk easily moved out of the way.

Naruto landed in a crouch and jumped at the monk again, kicking at his waist.

Again, the monk easily moved out of the way.

Naruto quickly got into close quarters and the two started exchanging punches at high speeds.

Although Naruto was clearly the faster of the two, the monk's punching speed was nothing to sneeze at and his technique was far superior to Naruto's self taught street brawl style. Neither of the two could manage to land a hit, the monk swaying his upper body skillfully out of the way of any attacks and Naruto simply using his greater speed to dodge the blows.

Eventually, the monk threw an uppercut with his right arm and Naruto leaned back to avoid it. This was a feint and the monk brought down the elbow from his raised arm into Naruto's chest. The attack forced the air from Naruto's lungs and stunned him long enough for the monk to land a hit.

The left hook was strong enough to crack Naruto's skull and severely disorient him for a few seconds. It was also enough to throw him a few meters from the point of impact. When Naruto hit the ground, he rolled twice before he kicked off the ground and flipped to his feet, the damage to his cranium mostly healed.

'**Strength enhancer? How? Metals can only conduct chakra, they can't be used to amplify anything. And this guy's chakra control isn't anything spectacular. **

Can't he just be really strong?

**I don't think so. There's no way that's his natural strength. As it is, a three hit combo in a fatal area will either kill us or knock us unconscious.**

What about seals? Couldn't he have enhanced his strength using those?

**It's possible, but they'd have to be on those gauntlets. That's probably why they're so long, to have more space to engrave the seal and now that I think about it, that's probably why there's so much of a strength increase… an enhancer seal that takes up that much space has to be pretty elaborate.**

Why can't they be on the skin?

**Performance enhancing seals are useless when used on the body. They do the exact same thing as focusing chakra in a body part, so the body's limits are still in place. But…**

Something wrong?

**Enhancer seals… how they work… they shift the increased physical strain to the metal. The metal sort of becomes part of your body. If there's too much strain then the weapon breaks. I didn't think there was one that can tolerate that much force. The gauntlet's metal is not nearly as heavy as our sword's and yet it's probably more resistant…**'

"Those gauntlets are wired with seals… What are they made of?"

The monk didn't seem to be surprised by Naruto's statement. In fact, it seems as though the man failed to follow through with his attack for the sole purpose of giving him enough time to figure it out.

"Zabuza-san should know, after all, his sword is made of the same metal." answered the monk.

Naruto turned to ask Zabuza for the answer, when he saw something: Tazuna kneeling on the ground, his life slowly leaking from his shoulder.

Something Teishi told him before he started the mission came back to him now, remarkably clear.

_First, Naruto, you have to remember the mission above the fight. Protect Tazuna._

Slowly, the fog of doubt that had been covering his mind since the previous night lifted… for the moment, and Naruto knew exactly what he had to do. He completely turned his back to his opponent and made his way back to his friends.

"Where are you going? We have a fight to finish."

"I'm going to finish my mission. Reminisce like everyone else does. Use your imagination, old man."

"You still don't understand… If you do not fight me, I will make sure you do."

"What? You'll kill innocent civilians until I come stop you?" asked Naruto, sarcastically.

"Yes, if I must." answered the man with nary a moment's hesitation. Naruto stopped at that.

"I was afraid you'd say that."

"One way or the other, I will kill you… or you will kill me. This is the way things must be done. This is the way things will be done."

Naruto stood squared and stared at the older man, examining his determination. After a minute, Naruto closed his eyes and resigned himself to do what he had to do.

"Sasuke, bring Tazuna and our… guests to his home. I'll take care of this." said Naruto.

"You sure about this?" asked Sasuke, giving a discreet glance at his 'guests'.

"Yeah, they've just been fired. Even if they don't join up with us, they won't do anything to oppose us." answered Naruto, looking at Zabuza for approval.

It was small, barely noticeable, but Zabuza nodded in accord. Sasuke had one last question.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll win."

"That's not what I meant. Your eyes… they're…"

"…I'll win."

* * *

He was found standing alone in a cemetery, resting in the pale moonlight.

There were at least 100 graves in the artificial clearing, with branches fashioned in the shape of a cross, serving as grave markers, impaled in the disturbed dirt.

Naruto was standing in front of a grave in the center of the clearing. It was obviously special as it was the only one with an actual tombstone. There were words engraved in the stone, probably with Naruto's own claws.

_You lived as a warrior, you died as warrior. May you finally find peace._

The young boy was in his undergarments, with his golden tail wrapped around his damp body for warmth. His newly cleaned clothes were drying on a nearby tree branch.

"When did you finish?"

"An hour ago, maybe less."

"Why didn't you use your kage bunshin?"

"It wouldn't have felt right."

"You won't be able to bury them every time."

"I know. I wasn't even able to bury them all this time, there are at least 40 missing."

"…"

"Why'd you come?"

"We completed a special assignment on behalf of the people of Wave country. Officially anyway. Our cover story is that we were sent to assassinate the wealthy businessman Gatou and that he offered his company in return for his life. We accepted. Gatou was to live the rest of his life in comfort on an offshore resort with the money in his personal account. Unfortunately, he was killed and robbed by his own thugs when he informed them that he had no need for them anymore."

"So he's dead? Who'll head his company?"

"Tazuna. He owns 85 percent."

"Is he okay? Does he know?"

"Yeah and I told them everything before we came here."

"…He'll be a great businessman. Who owns the rest? Gatou didn't have any partners. They all died from 'mysterious' accidents."

"Who else? You."

"What? Why?"

"Don't ask me. It actually wasn't my idea."

"…So the mission's over?"

"Yes. You've been released from your obligations. Congratulations, you have successfully completed your first S rank mission. The rank changed when the Hokage learned more about the circumstances."

"What about Zabuza and Haku?"

"We met. They've agreed to at least look over our base of operations."

"Good. I guess that's everything."

"Not quite… You ok, kid?"

Naruto finally turned and faced Teishi. The sheer apathy in those cold blue eyes was almost horrifying. They were eyes that belonged on the face of a twenty year veteran, not on the face of a twelve year old boy. They were eyes that Teishi knew far too well.

"So you're not ok."

"Is it that obvious?"

"…Have you ever heard the expression: The eyes are the windows to the soul?"

"…"

"You ready to go?"

"Not just yet… When do we leave?"

"Now that Gatou's dead, the people are too excited to sleep. Everyone's going to help in the bridge's construction. In fact, some of the villagers are working on it right now. At this rate, the bridge will be completed at around noon tomorrow. We're going to use it to get back home, so maybe a couple of hours after noon."

"I'll be there."

"You might want to come tonight. Tsunami said she's going to prepare a celebratory dinner and I know she'll be hurt if you don't come."

"…"

"Look, Naruto. It wasn't your fault. If you hadn't stopped them, they would've killed you and probably a whole lot more people."

"I know, but I killed them! I killed them all! Every last one…"

"Tell me Naruto, did you give them a chance to leave?"

"Yeah, but I had already killed at least half of them by then."

"Did you attack first? Or did they?"

"Well…"

"And when you offered them a chance to live, did they take it?"

"But!"

"Naruto, think about it. Let's say 150 people walk off a cliff and fall to their deaths and these people didn't know the cliff was there. In that situation, who is responsible for their deaths?"

"…"

"The people. Even though they died because of the cliff's presence, they were the ones to walk off, they were the ones who attacked, they acted. Just because your reaction ended their lives doesn't mean you have to take responsibility for their actions. Even if they weren't fully aware of it, they made a choice."

"But…"

"Naruto, do you believe in fate?"

"…No."

"Then you have to understand that everyone lives according to their own choices. That's why it's so important to make good choices, or you may find yourself making a choice that'll lead to your own end. Of course, life's unpredictable. It's like a mission. The council gives each ninja some information about the mission. Sometimes the information is incomplete or just plain wrong. So it's hard to make choices because we never know if the information we have on the situation is correct. But…

Those men had two veiled choices. They could either kill innocents for money, which would lead to their deaths, or leave you alone, which would grant them life. They made their choice, they paid for it."

"…Teishi?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"No problem. I know you're probably bothered by the fact that you can't remember all of these men. Don't be. You won't be able to remember every man you kill. The important thing is that you make sure that these men didn't die for nothing. Live a full life Naruto. Your actions in this world will justify their deaths."

"Yeah… I'll make sure of that."

* * *


	8. Chapter 7

Naruto was laying on his bed in his pajamas (with a new neat hole in the back), staring at the wall, listening to the storm's melancholic symphony, his tail tapping rhythmically against the bed's soft mattress. Keeping his tail meant that he couldn't stand lying on his back for an extended period of time. He had woken up a few minutes earlier, over a day after his conversation with Teishi. The events of the past few days were playing back in his mind and although there were some moments that he could've lived without, all in all he had a wonderful time. The party that Tsunami had thrown in their honor will forever remain one of the most moving events he had ever experienced.

In addition to the great food and ambience, he, Sasuke and Sakura (who was still ignoring him) spent some time getting to know the mild-mannered Haku while Teishi, Kakashi and Zabuza amused themselves by playing cards. It was no ordinary game of poker. Being ninja, bluffing was second nature to them and they used it in abundance in order to acquire their opponent's money, along with bragging rights. Poker had always been one of the pastimes most favored by ninja.

Eventually, Naruto joined them and was ultimately banned from their table after winning one too many games. It wasn't that he was a master at deceit or anything like that; it was that the boy was unnaturally lucky. They even accused him of cheating until he reminded them that they were all jounin and that he wasn't exactly the type of shinobi to bother doing something like that.

Now that he thought about it, his excessive gloating probably had something do with his expulsion from their game.

Tazuna had approached Naruto after his shoulder wound had been examined by Haku and the two of them discussed the future of their company. The first order of business was to orchestrate a name change. Somehow, someway, Gatou Company no longer seemed appropriate. After much deliberation (5 seconds), they agreed to rename the company in memory of Inari's defunct father. And so, the Kaiza Company came into existence.

Some townspeople heard the commotion and decided that it would be a good idea to join the party. They brought along with them more food and copious amounts of alcohol. After they got over the shock Naruto's appearance provided, it didn't take long for various people to get stinking drunk and embarrass themselves (and their friends) in comical ways. Eventually, a drinking contest was organized by Teishi and Naruto found himself participating. Naruto was amazed that everyone seemed to disregard the fact that he was (severely) underage.

The contest was simple; all contestants were directed into one of two teams with each team having an equal amount of drink… Moonshine, the type of alcohol that only serves one purpose: get people filthy drunk in as little time as possible. The team who would manage to finish their portion would be declared the winner.

Team A consisted of 15 hardy men and women. Team B consisted of Naruto.

Naruto complained about the unfairness of the situation, but Teishi argued that Naruto came equipped with an immune system that was far more capable of eliminating toxins, while the rest of them had to rely on their livers. Naturally, Naruto didn't believe a word of it until Otu backed Teishi's claim.

The battle was long and hard, with many stumbling and vomiting their way out of the competition. It was especially hard for Naruto to get used to the horrible taste; he almost choked the first time the liquid burned its way down his throat. However, he quickly recovered and redoubled his efforts to down as much of the drink as fast as he could. In the end, Naruto was declared the victor after the lady he was drinking with fell asleep. Naruto jumped on top of the table, let out a tremendous roar to further establish his victory (the act frightening everyone in the house, bar Teishi and his two teammates) and promptly passed out.

He spent his last few hours in Wave country lying down with a cold compress applied to his forehead and when it was time to leave, Teishi had to carry him all the way back to Konoha. He could barely even remember the trip as he spent it hopping in and out of consciousness. Otu wasn't much help; taking control while in that state wasn't something he perceived as advantageous so he spent the entirety of the trip in the safety of his sanctuary.

Naruto sat up on his bed and took a quick look at the clock. It read 11:45 PM.

'I've got to stop sleeping so long…

**I hope you never ingest lethal amounts of alcohol again. That was not fun. **

Was it that bad? I won!

**I'm not sure it was worth it… Say, I seem to remember Teishi doing something when we were incapacitated.**

Did he? I don't remember anything like that…

…

Man I'm thirsty… and hungry. I wonder if they left some food for me.

…**With Chouji around?**

…Yeah… Stupid question.'

Naruto stood and headed out to the hallway, taking a quick look at his sparsely furnished room as he did so. The only things it contained were two beds, two clocks on two small bedside tables, two weapon chests and his few clothes held in a huge closet. He made a mental note to get more stuff as he opened the door and walked out.

As he was walking in the dimly lit deserted hallway, he made another mental note to ask someone why there were suddenly two sets of everything in his room.

* * *

It couldn't be. It was simply impossible. His mind completed calculations at incredible speeds but the conclusion was always the same.

There should've been 4 containers of cup ramen left in that cupboard: one miso, one salt, one soy sauce and one pork broth. There were none.

He barely resisted his urge to scream out in fury and quickly came up with a course of action. He headed directly to the huge refrigerator and executed his revenge.

"Let's see… Kiba's turkey sandwich, Chouji's homemade chocolate chip cookies… I'll just skip Shino's celery…"

"Touch my cheesecake and die."

Naruto silently continued to loot the refrigerator as he had prior to the interruption, since he had been entirely aware of Ino's approach. Once he found Shikamaru's apple juice and set it on the counter, he asked her:

"Did you eat my ramen?"

He didn't have to see her to know she just rolled her eyes and shook her head at his 'alleged' stupidity.

"Of course not. I'm on a diet and ramen isn't exactly fat free." answered Ino.

When he heard this, Naruto stopped what he was doing and attempted to make sense of Ino's statement. When his attempts at rationalizing failed, he turned to see if she had managed to gain 40 pounds in the few days since he had last seen her. At first glance she looked just as she had a week ago so he increased his scrutiny to near Hyuuga levels. He examined every inch of her body, to the point of actually walking around her, to find a trace of what had given her to need to go on a diet. Once he completed his observation, he formulated a conclusion and informed her of his findings.

"Ino, someone's been messing around with your mirror."

"Wha… What?" came Ino's understandably weak reply. She was unused to such intense examinations, especially not when made in such a sterile manner and as a result, shock and embarrassment were severely reducing her thinking capabilities. Unfortunately for Naruto, Ino wasn't known for being compliant and her shock was rapidly being replaced with anger. If he didn't do something fast, the consequences could be dire.

"I think someone, probably Kiba, replaced it with a funhouse mirror. You know, the ones that make you look fat?"

It reminded him of the time when he snuck in a popular designer store and replaced all their mirrors with figure-distorting versions. Now that he thought about it, the store went bankrupt shortly after. For an instant, he entertained the thought that maybe… just maybe… he had something to do with it. However the thought was quickly removed and he once again focused on his current situation.

While Naruto was reminded of his prankster triumphs, Ino's expression took up a decidedly dark tone, and her mannerisms informed Naruto of his upcoming death.

"My mirror's fine." Ino's short, curt tone adequately relayed her irritation, but Naruto was expecting something more… brutal.

That's when he noticed it for the first time. It wasn't wholly obvious, which explained why he hadn't noticed it until then, but it was becoming increasingly noticeable with each passing second. It certainly explained why she pointedly avoided staring at his tail.

To be absolutely sure, Naruto decided to test his hypothesis.

'Otu… Can I?

**Are you certain? This is what you want?**

You know it is.

**Go ahead then.**'

Naruto closed his eyes and forced his orbs to morph as he 'borrowed' his brother's eyes. An awkward silence filled the air as feelings of uncertainty rose in Ino. Naruto had been standing there doing nothing a little too long for it to be natural.

Without warning, Naruto took a step forwards.

And Ino immediately took a step back. Five points in favor of his theory.

Naruto took three steps towards Ino. Ino took a single step back. Naruto continued to advance and Ino continued to back away until she became trapped between the kitchen counter and Naruto. Naruto advanced until there was a mere foot between them.

"Hey… Ino." No answer. Plus 20 points.

"I've always wondered… I know that a girl who lives around flowers smells like them… but…

Does she taste like them?"

Naruto slowly opened his mouth, revealing sharp teeth and fangs. No screaming… Minus 50 points. Then he opened his eyes.

Plus 300 points.

Naruto quickly grabbed her wrist, knocked the kunai out of her hands and used his body to immobilize hers. His enhanced eyes could see her features with crystal clarity.

Otu's eyes could see with such detail that it actually hurt. Whenever Naruto used those eyes for an extended period of time, it always resulted in a large headache. His mind was unprepared for receiving so much information, so using those eyes strained his psyche. It was a supremely uncomfortable feeling. On the other hand, Otu could handle those eyes with no problem but he could not stand using his other's eyes.

'Let's see… dilated pupils, increased breath rate, sweating… I thought so.

**We've seen this coming…**

…Might as well finish the test.'

Naruto allowed his eyes to return to their natural state, released Ino and took a step back. He then smiled weakly and said:

"…Gotcha?"

Nothing. No reaction whatsoever. Ino simply stood there, panting, watching him meticulously. Seeing one of the few he considered friends look at him that way made him feel extremely uncomfortable. He looked away from the spectacle before him and said:

"I see… You're scared of me. I thought… hoped that maybe… maybe it wouldn't mean anything and we'd all be able to just… continue like we had before…"

Another awkward silence developed as Naruto just stared at the floor and Ino watched him. The only lights in the kitchen were the gentle blue night lights that lit up every room in the building aside from the bedrooms and the light that escaped the refrigerator's open door a few feet away. Naruto broke the status quo by turning away from Ino and heading out the door, abandoning his food and ignoring his hunger.

"Naruto… I…" Ino tried to deny the fact, but stopped when Naruto turned to face her and motioned for her to stop.

"It's not your fault. You tried, that's more than most people can say and it means a lot to me. You're a good person, don't doubt that."

The smile that Naruto graced her with was unlike any other she had seen him bear before. It was small, but it gave off incredible warmth. It was completely unlike most of his other expressions… It was honest.

By the time she had thought of something to say, Naruto was already gone.

Naruto was in the hallway outside the cafeteria, heading back to his room when Teishi spoke up.

"Don't worry." said Teishi. "They'll get over it eventually."

"I know. I don't have to like it though." answered Naruto, turning to face his mentor. He had no hard feelings concerning Ino, or any of his team members. Now that he considered them friends, it was for life.

"Good. We've got work to do. Follow me."

Naruto followed Teishi out of the dorm and towards the administration building. It was still raining and neither of them had an umbrella, but both were used to far worse situations, so they just ignored it and kept on walking.

"It's time for you to learn about an ability of yours. As a demon lord, you possess the ability to bestow some of your power to others using a unique seal called a sigil or a specific sequence of words called a mantra." explained Teishi as the duo got closer to the building.

"You're not making this up, are you?" asked Naruto.

"What? Of course I'm not. What are you implying?" questioned Teishi, unsure of what Naruto meant.

"Teishi, just how do you know what a demon lord's abilities are?"

"Naruto, that has to be the most half-assed attempt to uncover the truth ever. Seriously, what kind of ninja flat-out asks someone what they want to know?" Naruto merely shrugged in response.

"Who knows? It could've worked." Teishi shook his head and sighed.

"Anyway, we have two ways available to uncover your method of chakra administration. The first is to go through a long search of your sanctuary, followed by an extremely bloody ceremony. The second is for me to just show you and for you to not ask questions. It's your choice really." said Teishi.

"…Tough choice…"

* * *

The two entered Teishi's office, where he opened the door to the basement and motioned for Naruto to enter. Naruto had his doubts.

"Okay, I know this door wasn't here before… and there's no basement included in the building's plans." assessed Naruto.

"Hey, what did I say about asking questions?" asked Teishi.

"That was not a question. Just a statement of fact." said Naruto before he walked down the stairs. Teishi watched him skeptically for a moment, before he followed him down the spiral staircase. They went down the lightly illuminated area quickly, without speaking until Naruto stopped at the bottom, amazed at the amazing sight before him.

Most of the (empty) chamber was entirely covered in complex ink seal script, 4 walls and ceiling included. Considering that the floor measured around 100 square meters… well, it was a complicated seal. The only places not covered in script were the large circle in the middle of the room and the light bulbs in the ceiling.

Under the seal, the room is made entirely out of the white stone that forms the Petrified Forest.

"Whoa… how long did it take to make this?" asked Naruto as he stared at intricate formations.

"I used kage bunshin, so it only took around 10 hours."

"No way, you don't have that much chakra."

"I took breaks… and 6 soldier pills." clarified Teishi.

"Why'd you do the walls and the roof?" asked Naruto.

"I had to, to protect us from the heat. You need a lot of it to melt mythril."

From Naruto silence, Teishi realized that he was probably asking Otu was mythril was. And since Otu didn't know, it'd probably be a good idea to just tell him.

"Mythril is an extremely durable metal that happens to be extremely rare. Basically, it is far, FAR better suited to craft into weapons than steel. Zabuza's head cleaver is entirely made of the stuff as were the monk's gauntlets. This seal arrangement will allow me to not only melt the gauntlets, but I'll also be able to manipulate the air around them, creating pressure at certain points… I'll be able to forge them into a weapon. Of course, that'll take an ungodly amount of chakra, which is why you're here. Come here, let me show you something." explained Teishi.

Naruto's sigil consisted of a counterclockwise spiral encased inside a hexagon, inside a cirle with a letter from his name situated at each vertex. The N and the O were at the top so it was possible to read both Naruto and Oturan from the sigil. Teishi had explained that Naruto's sigil was simple because it was meant to be used during battle. When Naruto asked if Teishi knew of any other demon lord's sigil or if he knew other demon lords, Teishi remained silent.

Then Naruto asked a question that had be bothering him for a long while: What is a demon lord? As far as he was aware, the only demons in existence were the 9… 8 great demons. Before Teishi could answer, Naruto hit him with another question: What is the difference between a demon and a daemon? Teishi decided to explain while he prepared to connect Naruto's sigil to his seal.

"At the basest level, a demon lord is a creature that is capable of creating something physical or an extreme physical effect from will alone. A good example is how you create chakra. While other beings create chakra by combining the physical energy that they get from food, air and water with spiritual energy, you transform your abundant spiritual energy into physical energy and combine them. Basically what that means is that you could actually survive without food for… well, pretty much forever, considering that you create far more energy than you actually get from food. I'm pretty sure that you'd also be able to survive without oxygen and water… except that you'd fall into a coma and be pretty much vulnerable to everything.

Another requirement to be a demon lord is the ability to create familiar spirits, also known as demon spawn. And before you ask… the answer is no, you can't do that yet."

"When am I going to be able to do that?"

"When you're ready. In any case, there haven't been any real demon lords on the continent for quite a while."

"…Wait… on the continent?"

"Stop asking questions. Moving on to the next subject… Actually, demons and daemon have a lot less in common then you'd think… they aren't actually related in any way."

"What? That doesn't make any sense!"

"It does, if you think about it. The researchers of the time named the inhabitants of Makai daemon because of propaganda. The same goes for devils. The only reason they're called like that is because it's easier to incite the populace into a war if they think that they're fighting something evil. That's about it."

"That's… not that surprising actually. Researchers always make things confusing." said Naruto.

"Not really, you're just not suited for that stuff. That's Otu's strong point." argued Teishi.

Teishi took a storage scroll out of his pocket and pulled the gauntlets out. He then walked to the middle of the room and deposited them in the circle formed by the lack of seal script. He took out a kunai, cut his thumb and then proceeded to attach Naruto's sigil to the seal script. Afterwards, he walked in front of the circle, where a rectangle encased two large ink circles. He placed each hand on each circle and asked Naruto if he was ready.

Naruto, seeing no reason to wait, simply nodded.

Teishi hid a grin and activated the seal.

* * *

'Hey, do you feel that?

**Yes, it's most likely Teishi's seal requesting chakra.**

Soooo… how do we send it?

**Hold on, I feel I can… I got it!**'

Two things happened simultaneously. The first is that the seal activated and the gauntlets levitated off the floor and began to melt. The second is that a wave of extreme weakness hit Naruto and he fell to the ground. All of a sudden, he felt extreme hunger and an abnormal need for sleep and oxygen.

'Holy crap!

**Channel the wild chakra, quickly!**'

The effects of his other power source were immediate and Naruto felt his strength slowly return to him.

'Damn…

**Well… Teishi wasn't in the wrong, that seal requires an ungodly amount of chakra.**

How long do we have?

**No worries. With the wild chakra, we'll be able to support this kind of drain for hours. This shouldn't take more than 30 minutes.**

Really? I didn't think we had that much chakra.

**It doesn't usually seem like we do because we waste so much of it.**

…Hey, can you tell?

**What?**

How much we waste?

…**You can't?**

I don't spend as much time inside as you do. I couldn't send the chakra either…

**Don't worry about it. You aren't one for administration anyways. Just ask me about what you want to know, and I'll do my best to answer. **

Alright, can you tell me how much chakra we waste with each technique?

**If we use our blue kind, we waste 62 and if we use our red kind we waste 97. If we use a mix of both we'll waste 91.**

That much!

**Yes. However, seals are different. **

What do you mean by that?

**Let me give you an example. Let's say that we're able to hold this kind of drain for 6 hours. If the seal Teishi was using right now was an actual technique and we had to actually control our chakra, we'd run out in 32 minutes.**

Damn…

**However, we don't need to control our chakra with seals. When a seal is activated, we pour an appropriate amount of chakra in it. 10 of that chakra is used to create pathways and the rest just flows in those pathways. That means that no matter what your chakra control is, 90 of your chakra will be used when you use it in a seal.**

Is there a catch?

**Always. Seals are truly impractical. Imagine that the seal in this room can be converted to a 12 to 16 handseal jutsu. **

Why the difference?

**It depends on who designed it. The area needed for a seal exponentially increases every time a handseal is added, but a skilled architect is able to create multiple layers. The process is apparently very complicated and few people have the talent needed to do it, which is why the seals that can be used in battle are usually weak or too large to be useful. Seals are mostly used in the medical field, where precision comes above everything else. **

Aren't those guys usually experts on chakra control?

**They are. It's just that their control lowers as they get more and more tired. It's safer to use a seal for complicated or lengthy operations.**

You know what? Your explanations make much more sense then Teishi's.

**That's probably because we aren't actually communicating using words… and that we're technically the same person.**

…I still think it's because Teishi's a bad teacher.'

As Naruto lifted himself off the floor, Teishi told him:

"You've gotten better."

"What do you mean?" He was a little surprised. He had expected Teishi to laugh at him for underestimating the majestic power of his seal.

"I don't feel your aura."

* * *

Before starting their latest spar, Teishi had given Naruto his new equipment. A new sword and 6 silver rings engraved with different but similar seal script. He wore one on each finger of his left hand, barring the thumb and two on his right, located on his middle and ring fingers. The rings contained seal versions of his basic elemental jutsu. With the aid of these rings, Naruto is able to use these techniques without handseals. More importantly, the rings allowed him to use his chakra a lot more effectively than before.

The sword, christened Ragnarok by Teishi, was a great improvement from his previous weapon. The Ragnarok is classified as a two-handed double-edged long sword. Its blade was 60 inches long, including the 4 inch pointed tip, which made it 3 inches taller than Naruto himself. It was two inches wide, 1/8 of an inch thick and weighed 2.5 kg. Ragnarok's guard, like his previous sword, was cross shaped and its grip was built out of Konoha's heaviest, most durable steel. It was covered with black colored leather and led to a circular pommel and the two foot long red silk tassel attached to it. Since Teishi didn't make a sheath for it, the blade was wrapped in special black silk with the tassel securing it. Teishi had also made the sword's blade and hilt compatible with the rings and had engraved Naruto's sigil near the hilt.

At first, Naruto didn't think Teishi would be able to create a blade with that amount of mythril, but he was quickly proven wrong. Considering that the gauntlets were much thicker than the blade (almost 10 times at the end) and that they covered the man's entire forearm (approx. 15 inches. long, 8-11 inches around), there was more than enough mythril to make the blade. Teishi even had some left over after he created the rings.

Before they began their spar, Teishi had gone inside the dorm to find Sasuke. According to him, this would be the perfect chance for Sasuke to unlock his sharingan. Needless to say, Naruto didn't have to wait long for them to come back…

According to Teishi, the sharingan appeared out of necessity and not because of will. To gain access to the sharingan, all Sasuke had to do was try to see something his current eyes could not follow. Eventually, the sharingan would appear… and appear it did. Trying to follow Teishi's and Naruto's sword strikes for 10 minutes did the trick.

The spar began as it usually did, some light taijutsu to warm up, followed by a brief exchange of jutsu. That's when things began to deviate from the norm. As it was still raining rather heavily, there was an unusual amount of water everywhere and Naruto got the bright idea to use the one jutsu he never used.

It turns out that the suiton jutsu Teishi taught him was a lot more useful when it was raining then when it was not. With the ability to create instantaneous attacks from all directions and instant defenses from attacks, Naruto was making quick work of his mentor with a single technique. That's what worried him. It just couldn't be that easy.

"You've gotten rusty boy. Standing still in plain sight? You're asking for it." said Teishi, moments before his shadow covered everything.

* * *

The next morning, at the breakfast table, the members of the FOX unit found that Teishi, Naruto and their two guests were not among their ranks.

It was then that Sasuke chose to inform them that the foursome had left the village earlier and wouldn't return until the day of the chuunin exam. That little piece of news was not well received. When the others finally settled down, Sasuke added that he had been left in charge of the training schedule. That little piece of information did not go over well… that is until he added that it was because Teishi felt that Sasuke was likely to be the most uptight when it came to training.

No one had any problems with that statement. Luckily for him, Sasuke kept the fact that they had gone to the hot springs to himself.

* * *

"Where are they? If they don't come soon we won't have time for lunch before the exam…"

"Don't worry. They'll be here in time." The way he had said that… that complete confidence…

"You know something." Sasuke didn't bother to respond to her statement. They both stood in the shadows of the building where the first exam would take place. Sasuke stood leaning against the wall with his arms crossed while Sakura stood facing him.

"Sasuke-kun, tell me. When are they coming back? Why did they leave?"

Sasuke seemed entirely unconcerned with Sakura's queries and merely responded with an answer that didn't reveal anything.

"They had things to take care of."

As hard as she tried, she couldn't prevent the hurt she felt at those words. No matter how hard she tried, she was unable to get Sasuke to open up to her.

"Sasuke-kun, why can't you…' she stopped speaking when she realized that he wasn't paying attention. He was staring at something behind her. She didn't have a chance to turn around when Sasuke spoke.

"Naruto? Is that you? What the hell are you wearing?" Sakura instantly turned to yell at her teammate but when she saw him, she was struck speechless at his appearance.

Naruto was wearing a pair of wooden geta with a white haori and short hakama set over his grey sneaking suit (modified to handle the growth of his tail). He was carrying the wrapped Ragnarok in his hand and seemed to carry no other weapon. The most peculiar part of his outfit was the white blindfold he was wearing over his eyes… with the words 'DO NOT REMOVE' written in black. All in all, he was wearing something Naruto would never normally wear… something she doubted he even owned.

Even more peculiar is the fact that she thought he seemed different, like he wasn't himself. She didn't have to look at Sasuke to know he thought the same. That's when she remembered.

"You're… Otu-kun… right?" The boy in question turned his head in her direction. For some reason, she had the distinct feeling that he was looking straight at her, as if he could see her in spite of the blindfold.

"That's correct, Sakura-san. I hope you can forgive me for being late."

Sakura never thought she'd hear those words coming out of Naruto's mouth. He wasn't exactly known for being polite.

"Oh… um… that's okay. You don't have to apologize." replied Sakura.

"What's with the blindfold? And the clothes?"

Oturan turned his head in Sasuke's direction and the young girl again felt as if he was able to see.

"Uchiha Sasuke… always to the point. To answer your question, the blindfold is see-through. Its purpose is merely a trick to instill doubt in my opponents… well, that and hide my eyes. But before I continue, I'll ask you to answer me this. When will the exams start?" answered Otu.

"We're supposed to gather in this building in three hours. The only reason we're here is because this is the meeting point we agreed on. Where's Teishi?" asked Sasuke.

"Speaking with the Hokage. About what… that's what I want to know."

"You mean you don't?" Otu let out a deep, low laugh before continuing.

"Teishi doesn't share everything with us. We're on a need to know basis, same as everyone else. It just so happens that we need to know more than most. What intrigues me is that he's invited my brother and me to try and discover what he's hiding… as if he wasn't really trying to keep it from us."

"Um… guys?" interrupted Sakura, a little miffed. They were carrying a conversation right there in front of her and leaving her out of it! This wasn't the first time she'd been left out of things and she was really starting to get tired of it.

"What do you need, Sakura-san?" The more she heard it, the more it bothered her. Hearing Naruto's voice without his enthusiasm warming it, would take some getting used to.

"We're supposed to meet the others for lunch… remember?" said Sakura. Otu merely smiled at her. It was disturbingly different from Naruto's smile.

While both of them used fake smiles, Naruto only faked his because he wanted to be able to smile. So he smiled in the hopes of being able to truly smile one day. It was a smile full of hope and that gave it its own unique light.

In contrast, Otu smiled because he felt he had to. He smiled because he felt the situation called for it. It was a smile full of falsehood, shadows morphed to imitate light… but never coming close. While smiles like that one are common in a village like Konoha… she had never seen one like that on Naruto's face.

"Sakura … Are you okay?" Sakura ceased her inner meditation to discover that Sasuke and Otu were staring at her.

"…Sasuke-kun. Why don't you and… Otu-kun just go ahead. I'll join you in a little while."

Sasuke was about to ask the obvious question, but he just reminded himself that it was none of his business.

"…If you say so." said Sasuke before he left towards Chouji's favorite barbecue restaurant. Oturan stood unsure for a few seconds before he decided to follow Sasuke.

When both boys were out of sight, Sakura let out a small sigh and started walking to the nearest bench. She needed to sit down.

'_You're a sad sight.'_

Well, she finally showed her face. The elusive inner-Sakura.

'You're one to talk. You're never around when I need you. It's like you're avoiding…

_Finally figured it out?_

You're avoiding Naruto… Why?

_It's… complicated. But that's not important now. Even when I'm not here, I'm always watching… What are you going to do about Naruto?_

Don't change the subject.

_Actually, I'm not changing the subject at all. My question was perfectly in line with our current topic._

What do you mean by that?

_You'll figure it out eventually… But really, what are you going to do about the boy? You haven't spoken to him since we were in Wave country. That's a long time for the silent treatment._

…It's been that long?

_Time sure flies when you're having fun! You've always had a penchant for torture._

Shut up! I wasn't doing this to hurt him. I just wanted to make sure he was never that thoughtless again.

_Oh, come on! I know you better than that! Don't you remember that time when you saw that poor, sick dog… and you just watched him suffer instead of finishing him off? _

I was six!

_Of course… What about Ino-chan? Don't you remember how you giggled in delight as you tore your friendship apart… all for the sake of love?_

Yeah right. It didn't happen like that and you know it.

_You always had a fascination with pain and suffering… isn't that what attracted you to dear Sasuke-kun in the first place?_

…You know what? You talk too much.

_And you don't talk enough. Which reminds me, you're going to have to settle these issues you have with the boy's alter-ego._

I guess… I just don't know what to make of him… well, them really.

_That's why I said you've got to speak with him. Don't worry, that one doesn't see the point in keeping secrets. As long as it concerns him alone, he'll tell you anything._

Will you be there?

_Sorry to be the bearer of bad news…_

That's okay. I guess I can go without you for a little while…? Hey, are you there?'

"Sakura-san, are you alright?" A quick look up from her spot on the bench revealed that Oturan was standing in front of her.

"Otu-kun? What are you doing here?" She couldn't have been gone long enough for him to come looking for her…

"…I've been following you. I think we need to talk."

Normally, she'd deny his affirmation, avoid the subject like the plague and try to deal with it on her own, but something in his voice made her reconsider.

"…What about?"

"This tension between us. I believe I am to blame." So it wasn't just her… and he sounded so serious too…

"Don't be ridiculous, you haven't done anything…"

"That's the problem. You are used to a certain behavioral pattern when interacting with this body. But I am unable to give you these things without my brother here." Something sounded wrong in that sentence.

"When you say 'I' do you mean I as the whole… or I as in yourself, separate from Naruto."

"Second choice. It seems that my ability to feel and express my emotions is affected by my brother's presence. Whenever he is not here, I just get… colder. I simply do not care as much about anything, with the exception of you and him. Those feelings never wane, no matter what."

"That's… weird. I've never heard of anything like that before..."

A short, awkward silence descended upon the two children and both were clueless as to how to escape it. Eventually, Sakura decided to take the first step.

"Now that I think about it, you never did answer Sasuke's question. Why are you wearing those clothes?"

"…Teishi. He said that our clothes weren't suitable, that our appearance didn't inspire doubt, fear and respect. According to him, our usual clothes were too plain. So he had us borrow these clothes from Haku and made us promise to wear them today. Actually, he also told us that we were to act 'calm, but dangerous. Cool, but passionate. Oblivious, but ALL-KNOWING!' for the duration of the exam. That's one of the reasons why I'm here instead of Naruto."

"…Nishizaki-sensei… is very odd."

"You don't know the half of it."

* * *

Sakura had hoped that being surrounded by the rest of the unit would remove the tension in the air. She was horribly, horribly wrong. It turns out that Otu's mannerisms made everyone uncomfortable… well, everyone except Sasuke, Shino and Kakashi. They were completely unaffected. After the introductions, everyone just ate silently. Until…

"Chouji-kun. I would advise against that. That piece is mine."

"Naruto or whatever you call yourself… know this, no one takes the last piece away from me. No one."

Then again, this wasn't all that different from any other lunch.

"YOU can call me Otu-sama." Naruto was being a disagreeable jerk…

"YOU can kiss my ass." Whoever he was clashing against retaliated…

A hand clad in black fingerless gloves came from behind Sakura and took the last piece of steak from the grill without the two noticing.

"Mmm… Man, that's tasty. The last piece is always the best." And one of the adults broke up the argument.

"Teishi… you bastard." Otu was the one to say what was on both their minds. Everyone else just laughed.

"Get over it, it's not that important. The exam will start soon. You have 90 minutes to get ready, move out. Instructors, I'll speak with you about the training results in my office in 10 minutes." said Teishi, before disappearing. In his wake, he left quiet.

"Teishi has been acting strange lately." said Otu, breaking the silence in the booths. Kakashi sensed an opportunity to learn more about the strange man and decided to further the discussion.

"What do you mean by that? You know him better than we do."

"He's been getting progressively more anxious as we got closer to the chuunin exam. He's been trying to hide it, so that means that it's something serious… I wonder if it has anything to do with…" Otu paused in the middle of his phrase, for no apparent reason.

'**So… That old man was… But why would Teishi…**'

Otu briskly got up, picked up his sword, leaving the others stunned after his sudden movement.

"Sasuke, Sakura, I will meet you at our previous meeting point in 80 minutes." said Otu before he ran out of the door at top speed, ignoring Kakashi's call. In response, the jounin jumped from his seat and ran after the boy.

"Something's up." said Shikamaru.

Everyone else could do nothing but nod in agreement.

"Maybe, but it's none of your business." said Teishi, from a nearby table. Everyone stared at him in stillness as he ate his barbecue meal. Eventually, he decided to take control of the situation since none of them seemed to want to address the obvious issue.

"Well, while those two are on a wild goose chase… let's sort out those training reports, shall we? Oh, and I hope you two know better than to question your commander, right?" asked Teishi of the two jounin. He only received blank stares in answer. In response, he merely smiled.

"That's good. I've no use for brainless puppets." The meaning behind that sentence was entirely too ambiguous for anyone's liking… Did he mean that he had no use for puppets? Or that he had no use for the stupid ones?

* * *

If you want more information, find my livejournal.


	9. Chapter 8

Oturan arrived at their meeting place, disappointed after the fruitless search, only to find that his teammates had already gone inside. He wasn't that late, so they must've met up with the other members of their unit. Otu hesitated before he entered the building. He wanted to find his brother before he went into the building, but he just didn't have enough time to do that. Wherever Naruto was, he was out of earshot, which meant that he'd never have enough time to find him before the exam started. He just hoped Naruto hadn't fallen asleep.

Otu didn't meet anyone as he wandered through the hallways of building, which probably meant that he was tardier than he first thought. Increasing his pace to a silent sprint, Otu glided through the empty hallways… until he reached a chamber on the second floor.

It seemed his comrades had gotten… sidetracked.

The members of the second and third unit formed a disjointed group on one side of the room. Everyone was currently observing the proceedings with differing degrees of excitement, concern and/or annoyance, the exception being Hinata, who was pointedly avoiding looking at the Hyuuga across the room, or even his general direction…. a Hyuuga who seemed to be glaring at her? That was unacceptable; he'd have to do something about that. Information flowed from a nameless source as Otu tapped into the knowledge he possessed that was attached to the Hyuuga clan. That was an ability Naruto didn't possess: the capability to actively search known parts of the sanctuary. While Naruto possessed the same knowledge Otu did, the problem was that he had trouble recalling certain things.

In a few instants, he had ascertained the probable identity of the white-eyed boy: Hyuuga clan branch member Neji… only son of deceased branch member Hizashi. The story surrounding that clan was as stained with hate and prejudice as it got… bar the Uchiha clan. They would have to do something about that when they became Hokage.

Across the room from the group were the aforementioned Hyuuga and a girl whose most distinguishing feature was her ox horns hairstyle.

In the middle of the room was the source of the disturbance: Uchiha Sasuke and a boy he could only describe as Gai-junior. The problem was that they weren't having a meaningful conversation about the wonders of their village. They were fighting.

Even worse, Sasuke wasn't winning.

An instant was all Otu needed to find the reason why. Gai-junior was fast enough to run circles around Sasuke. The fact that Sasuke's sharingan was activated became practically meaningless. Although he could probably see the blows coming with no problem, his body was too slow to react to any changes in trajectory. It was probably easy for the green-clad child to go past Sasuke's guards. Further examination revealed that Sasuke wouldn't reveal his trump cards so early in the exam and so wouldn't use his ninjutsu or his taijutsu style.

'**Hmm… no one has noticed my arrival… perhaps I should just wait? This may prove to be a good learning experience for Sasuke…? Oh… right. You aren't here.**'

More than ever before… Otu wished his brother was present. Unsure, Otu decided to wait until something happened that would require immediate action. He didn't have to wait long.

The boy with the bowl cut hairstyle and the orange leg warmers delivered a vicious kick to Sasuke's chin, lifting him feet above the ground. Immediately after, he pushed himself off the ground and jumped after his opponent, keeping himself in front of the Uchiha's back.

'**Shadow leaf dance? This cannot end well… they have definitely gone too far. Perhaps a little wind will cool them down.'**

Otu raised his right arm just as the bandages on the youth's arms began to unravel. The gust of wind hit everyone just before Gai was going to interrupt. Unfortunately for everyone, Otu was far less adapted to measuring his chakra than his brother. Furthermore, since they had increased their control over their aura, it was no longer necessary to constantly hold their wild chakra back. Consequently, the gust of wind that blasted through the room held enough force to break the windows and was nearly enough to break the walls down. The genin that were on the floor used their chakra to stop themselves from flying and protected their faces from debris with their arms. Those who weren't on ground had a harder time.

The boy with the large eyebrows managed to shift himself in midair and position himself so he would hit the wall feet first. Sasuke had received too much damage and wouldn't be able to do the same. Otu immediately ceased his technique and ran full speed after Sasuke. He jumped on the wall, jumped off it and grabbed his teammate. He didn't have to look at the other boy to know he was staring straight at him. When he landed, he walked towards his comrades, who were just recovering from his jutsu, and helped the boy sit down.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke grunted and gave a short nod. That meant he'd have no problems performing in the exam.

"Good. Now, will someone tell me what happened? Two leaf comrades should not be fighting without a reason."

'**Hmm? That sounded like something Naruto would say. That means…   
**

Yo.

**Finally! What took you so long? **

That place is waaay bigger than I thought it was... How long was I in there?

**A little over a week.   
**

It feels like I've been wandering those halls for months.

**That's because time becomes more and more distorted the further you get from this place. After all, this room is the only place connected to the outside world.   
**

Makes sense, I guess… What'd I miss?

**A lot. I'll need you to take control now.   
**

You know I can't do that. You're the one that has to complete the exam.

**I know. Fortunately, we haven't quite gotten to the exam yet.   
**

Where are we then?

**We're in the building, we just haven't gotten to the exam room yet. But that's not important. I need you to take care of this situation.   
**

Alright, I guess I can do that if it doesn't have anything to do with the exam. Give me some details.

**Sasuke fought and lost against what appears to be Maito Gai's biggest fan and one of Hinata's clan members appears to have a grudge against her. **

Sasuke lost?

**The boy he was fighting was a taijutsu expert. Even with his sharingan, he was unable to react in time. **

Alright, I'll see what I can do.'

* * *

On the other side of the FOX unit, Neji and Tenten were standing together, evaluating the rookies as they conversed with one another... or rather, as they all conversed with the newcomer. 

"Neji… who… what is he?" asked Tenten, referring to the inhuman newcomer.

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Well… isn't Hinata is an important member of the main family? You should've at least received a briefing concerning her teammates."

Tenten's speculation is accurate. It is a well known fact that privacy among the Hyuuga was practically non-existent. What one knew, all knew. Of course, that rule didn't apply to the clan leader, or its elders.

"I haven't seen much of Hinata-sama since she became a genin. She moved out of the compound."

Tenten stared at him incredulously. That the elders would allow the heir, a member of the main family… no, not even. That the elders would allow any Hyuuga to move out of their jurisdiction? Something was wrong. Surely, not even Neji could be insensible enough to believe otherwise.

"And you don't think anything's wrong with that?"

"It is not my place to wonder about such things." Tenten wisely decided not to push the subject. Neji's tone always got so bitter when he talked about his clan. Especially when it came to matters concerning the main family.

"That guy's way too strong to be a genin." said Lee as he walked up to his teammates. He was a little disappointed that he didn't get the chance to defeat his opponent, but he knew that the newcomer wouldn't allow anymore fighting. Speaking of the unusual boy, he seemed to have recovered from his previous lapse in movement and was currently interrogating Uchiha Sasuke.

"I know what you mean. That wasn't just any attack. Since he didn't use a tool to facilitate the use of the Fuuton, the chakra consumption should've been extreme… but just look at him. No heavy breathing, no sweating… there are no signs of exertion whatsoever." Tenten spoke in complete certainty. She wasn't an expert on shinobi arsenal for nothing.

"This is impossible." It was just like Neji to say something and expect everyone to automatically know what he was talking about.

"What? The fact that he has a tail that looks like it belonged to a huge fox or the fact that none of us have ever heard of him before?" asked Tenten.

"Not that… his mannerisms, his stance… everything has changed. It's as if I'm looking at a different person." said Neji. The byakugan's insight... the eye of truth... the ability to translate the gestures of any person, even a complete stranger, into thoughts and feelings… one of Neji's favorite techniques.

"Since when can you use your insight with your byakugan deactivated?" asked Lee.

"I'm not; it's just so obvious..." Naturally, Neji wasn't aware of the fact that most people were unable to perform what he considered to be basic forms of insight. If you aren't of Hyuuga blood, it takes jounin level experience to perform an act even remotely similar to it.

"Enough delay, my byakugan will reveal everything he has hidden." said the branch member, before forming the seal that would allow him to activate his bloodline. Neji voiced the name of his white eye just as the group of nine finished their exchange and turned to face him.

For that reason, they were in a perfect position to see the veins around Neji's eyes expand as the byakugan's abilities activated. As his two teammates weren't facing him, they failed to see his eyes open as wide as they could right before he shut them with as much strength as he could muster. However, they could not help but notice when he started screaming in atrocious pain.

He barely held enough cognition to hear Lee ask him what was wrong and Tenten asking the rookies what they did to him. He certainly didn't have enough control to deactivate his byakugan. He could only hear his team because he wasn't able to see past this horribly bright, all-consuming red radiance. It easily passed through his eyelids and from what he could tell, it filled the entire room and appeared to be moving in some indistinguishable pattern… around a certain focal point…

Neji's moans of agony momentarily lessened as he slowly came to understand what was blinding him and why it was doing so to him alone. What this ocean of red actually was…

It was chakra… this swirling scarlet maelstrom was chakra…

All of a sudden, he realized that he was lying on the floor and that could hear Gai trying to speak with him but for some reason, he went past that… dissecting all he could hear… until he reached the sound of footsteps. But they weren't just any footsteps. They were _her_ footsteps. Only she walked with such maddening indecision. From what he was able to tell, she walked until she was right next to him and kneeled down. He heard Gai asking her if she knew what was wrong with him, only to be ignored. That was completely out of character for her… Hinata never ignored anyone.

"Neji-niisan." This was getting weirder and weirder. She was speaking as if she actually had something significant to say.

"Don't look away. Avoiding it only makes it seem stronger and fearing it only generates self-destruction. You must look at its core… and when you look past it, when you reach what is hidden behind… you will be able to brush off the insignificant."

Ignoring the obvious problem in the situation, Neji just did as he was told. Ending his torture took precedence over everything.

The young genius opened his eyes and sought the source of the chakra, finding it positioned a few feet in front of him. He focused on it and examined its core, trying to find the secrets it contained. Slowly, the blinding chakra seemed to dissipate, until all that remained was a swirling globe of chakra not unlike the kaiten.

With the strain on his mind lessened, he was able to recover complete control over his body and was able to stand up with little problems.

"Neji-niisan, you aren't looking deep enough. You aren't looking at the person underneath."

Neji could do little else but listen and watch all around him. Since his byakugan was still activated, he was able to see the certainty that so wholly coated her figure. He'd never heard his cousin sound so firm. It went beyond anything he believed her to be capable of.

So again, he looked forward. He pushed past the last protection and again, the chakra seemed to disappear and he was able to look at its source with great precision.

It was the young boy. Blond hair tied in a long braid, with the front fringe cut barely above the blindfold covering his eyes. Now that he was actually facing him, Neji was able to see the odd message written on it. Using his advanced sight, he was able to see past it to see perfectly normal blue eyes. Aside from the tail, the abnormal chakra coils, the selection of outfit considering the occasion, the odd rings and the long sword… he looked just like a normal twelve year old boy. Just like a rookie genin.

If he hadn't seen it, he wouldn't have believed for a second that this boy held more chakra than this village's shinobi population put together. If he learned anything from this experience, it was that this boy held obscene power. Mercifully, his eye could discern no hostile intent… nothing out of the ordinary. The truth was that this boy was here for the same reason they all were.

To take the chuunin exam.

To become chuunin.

To test his strength.

The idea was so ludicrous he wanted to laugh.

* * *

After Neji had managed to successfully look past Naruto's aura, he simply turned and left. Just like that. No word of thanks, no explanation as to what the hell happened to him, nothing. He didn't even bother to acknowledge his teammates queries. He even ignored the words of his sensei. A few moments later, Lee and Tenten quickly introduced themselves, thanked Hinata on behalf of their teammate and left after him. After Naruto spent a few moments commenting on Neji's less-than-stellar attitude, he turned to face Leaf's one and only prideful green beast… only to find that he had gone. 

"That bastard… running away before he can get his comeuppance."

No one bothered to pay attention to him. They had heard enough of his Gai-fueled rants to last them a lifetime. According to Naruto, he had been the victim of cruel and unusual punishment and was looking to pay Gai back for his suffering. But that was a story for another time. Naruto calmed himself down, turned to his friends and told them that it was time to go.

As they were heading to the third floor, he took the opportunity to say a few things.

"Okay, here's the deal. Once we enter that room, Otu will take control and I won't be able to come back until the exam is over."

Shikamaru, ever the sharp one, immediately honed in on Naruto's peculiar choice of words.

"What do you mean you won't be able to come back?"

Naruto took a few moments to organize his thoughts (as well as checking for any remaining eavesdroppers) before answering the question. For once, he didn't have to ask his other. This was one fact he would never forget.

"Teishi made me promise not to act in the physical world during the exam. That makes it pretty much impossible for me to do so. It's one of my limits. To answer the obvious question… it's a well known fact that every being on this plane is limited in some way, shape or form. Normal human limits are mostly material… demons are a little more complicated. Our limits are less physical… more psychological. That's what makes us… most of us so unstable. To make a long story short, I can't break a promise… Well, that's not exactly true. A better explanation would be if I said that making a promise establishes a limit. If I go past that limit… let's just say the result would be as if you guys went past your physical limits."

'…Breakdown…'

Regardless of the many questions resting in the minds of the genin, not one word was spoken by anyone for the rest of the trip.

'**You're just going to ignore it? **

What?

**You know what was wrong with that Hyuuga. **

And?

**Then you know the only way she could know how to get through it is if she herself lived through it. **

Your point is?

**… **

Otu, never forget. She may look weak, but underneath that lays a strong heart and an even stronger will. She's in the unit for a reason you know. Besides, there are some things that simply have to be faced alone. She didn't need my help so I didn't give it.

**Too bad you can't do the same with Sakura. **

That's different.

**How? **

…I'm not exactly sure.'

* * *

Morino Ibiki was not a happy camper. After being informed that each examiner would be assigned a 'helper' (and with no prior notice!), after he found who the so called helper was AND after said helper stopped him from investigating the source of a rather two large disturbances, he was now being forced to deal with late genin. Of course, he just about to tell those genin what happened to tardy shinobi when his assistant interrupted. 

"They have a valid reason. They are not to be penalized in any way." said former missing-nin Momochi Zabuza.

The fact was that the mist genin had immediately recognized him and that they would soon notify their superiors who, in turn, would notify their kage. Their kage would probably demand some outlandish compensation for his presence.

What really irked him was that the swordsman was so completely unconcerned with the problems that would befall their village.

Selfish bastard.

After instructing the genin to take empty seats, he was about to explain the rules of the exam when he noticed the anomaly, Konoha's jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Naruto. Being who he was, he immediately noticed something wrong. It could've been the clothes, it could've been weapon, it could've been the obvious tail… but that wasn't what caught the attention of Konoha's prime psychological expert.

Once every few months, he was assigned to build a psychological profile of certain… unruly shinobi. Naruto was one of them. Of course, Naruto was never aware of the fact that he was being examined. The point was that during those examinations, it was determined that the boy had a fiery personality and was particularly prone to expressing his emotions; from time to time he did so excessively.

The boy that the he and the other 159 people in the room: 144 genin in 48 teams, 15 chuunin examiners and one very arrogant ex-missing-nin were seeing was entirely different. They were seeing a 12 year old (not that age had any meaning) hanyou with the disposition of an executioner.

One thing he believed without a shadow of a doubt was that this boy was able to kill scores of people and not lose a second of sleep over it.

Somehow, in the time since his last examination, Uzumaki Naruto had become a cold-blooded killer.

Ibiki created a plan as the rest of the room followed the boy with their eyes, whispers flying between complete strangers, everyone trying to find the answer to the obvious question.

Who… What the fuck is that?

Ibiki's plan was simple, but important. The chuunin exam had lost all importance in his eyes, only one thing mattered. Somehow, someway, he had to turn this exam into a psychological examination. He had two goals, the first being to determine the boy's killing range and the other to get a feel of the boy's power. If the boy proved to be too unstable, he would have to be put down… It was too late to modify his test… but Anko was still available…

* * *

'Seems like a simple enough test but most traps always look simple. Let's go over the rules one more time. 

**Alright… Everyone starts with 10 points and the test contains ten questions worth one point each. A wrong answer means one point lost. This is a team exam, so our total score determines whether we fail or pass. Every time someone is caught cheating means that they lose two points. Getting no points is an automatic failure. The test will last an hour. **

So, what's the first question again?

**It's a very complicated cryptogram. **

…The second question?

**Basically, it's a question that requires field experience and book smarts. It involves a shuriken thrown from a height of 7 meters and the attack options available towards the enemies that appear in the circumference. **

Let me guess, we have the field experience…

**…but we lack the book smarts.**

Guess we have to cheat.

**That's probably what we're supposed to do. Otherwise the cheating rule makes no sense. **

We're in trouble… aren't we?

**Yes… unfortunately, our skills in that area are lacking... well, while we're in a classroom anyway. We can infiltrate with no problems… but information gathering is not our forte. We have no suitable genjutsu… and I doubt we can take out the examiners. **

Hmm… I wonder…

**Don't be stupid. **

Why not? How would we handle this situation outside a classroom? Sneak around them? What if it's too difficult? Do we go back? Hell no! We'd simply go through them.

**You do realize we'll get disqualified, right? **

Well technically, if we stand up and go copy off Sakura-chan and then go back to our seat, we'll only lose two points because it would be one long cheating attempt. Besides, who says we have to accept our disqualification?

**Wow. Teishi was right, you really are brash. I doubt injuring a dozen Konoha chuunin will look good on our Hokage resume… and what about Zabuza and Morino-san? **

I'm pretty sure you can hold them both long enough to get Sakura-chan's answers and who says we even have to fight? All we have to do is convince them that this exam isn't worth their lives. Unlike info gathering, intimidation is very much one of our strong points.

**You're crazy, you know that? **

You're just jealous of my master plan.

**…I can't believe we're gonna go through with this…**'

Otu sat motionless on his chair, waiting to make his move. It wouldn't do to get up now when no one completed the exam. He sat, simultaneously conversing with his brother and ignoring the various glances headed this way. He did so until something caught his attention. He expanded his senses, covering more and more of the room until he discovered it. He didn't know how he had managed to overlook it till then, but now that he had sensed it, it was unmistakable.

There was a demon carrier in the room. A quick word from Naruto gave him the much needed confirmation.

He knew that no one else could sense it, non-functional as it was… but now that he'd found it, it resonated with his own. The boy's personal aura. It was completely different from his, but the fact remained that it was an aura. He wasn't able to see the jinchuuriki, nor could he tell who it was even if he did see him, but he could feel it. That chaotic feeling in the air… the lack of reason… that twisted logic.

He didn't know much about that beast, but he knew one thing… that beast was completely insane.

He wasn't sure if the other boy knew of his true nature… but he had a feeling that their 'bond' wasn't one-way…

'We'll deal with this later. We have twenty minutes left, now's the time to act.'

Otu took a deep breath and prepared himself for the upcoming task. It would be a pain; he sincerely disliked being the center of attention. He's a natural born hermit.

* * *

Unbelievable… that boy was completely unbelievable. After spending thirty-five minutes with his thumb located a relatively long distance up his ass, he just gets up and strolls like it's nobody's business. He literally got up and walked towards his teammate without paying any attention to anything but his destination. By this time, over half the teams had been eliminated. 

Naturally, everyone paused. The genin stopped answering though most of them had already finished, the examiners stopped examining... but that boy didn't stop walking.

It was only when Zabuza started laughing (quite terribly, Ibiki knew some of the genin wouldn't sleep that night.) that someone reacted.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing! Go back to your seat!" yelled the closest chuunin. The boy paid no heed. He just kept on walking, ignoring the examiner's (and his teammate's) words. Eventually, the chuunin got tired of the boy.

"That's it! You're disqualified!" Even that wasn't enough. At this point, the boy was near the pink haired girl's seat.

"Hey! Are you deaf?" The young adult had reached his limit. He would simply have to force the boy out. He ran full speed with the intention of teaching the boy to respect his superiors. Ibiki watched as his assistant ran, expecting a demonstration of the boy's ability.

He was therefore stunned when his chuunin abruptly stopped… almost as if he discovered he was about to run into a trap. By this time, the boy had reached his destination. He turned towards the chuunin (the only indication he'd even heard him) and said two words to him.

"Think twice." After which he turned back to the girl.

"Sakura-san, do you mind if I take a look at your exam?" When she shook her head, he spun her sheet so that it faced him started reading (which meant the blindfold was phony). In the minute it took him to memorize it, some of the other examiners had moved to the unmoving one. He responded to their questions, but absolutely refused to turn his eyes away from Uzumaki.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Ibiki to his examiners. Before they could do so, his assistant intervened.

"Nothing important, Morino-san. He simply became aware of a fact that he previously overlooked." said Zabuza, speaking so that only Ibiki could hear him.

"And what fact is that?"

"Try to attack and you'll find out. It won't do to simply reveal the boy's secrets… Oh and by the way, if he makes it back to his seat, he won't receive a penalty for his act. So if you want to stop him, I suggest you do… too late."

A quick look revealed that the young boy had reached his seat and was currently answering the questions on his sheet. According to the expressions of the genin surrounding him, he had probably done so very swiftly. Ibiki turned back to Zabuza. Something was up and he had a feeling that the swordsman knew what. He was about to interrogate the man when he was interrupted by a few of the examiners. It seems that they would try to throw Naruto out of the room.

Of course, Zabuza would have none of that on his watch.

"All of you, don't take another step. That boy has done nothing wrong; there is nothing in the rules that specifies what method must be used to pass the test. All that is said is that if one gets caught cheating, one shall lose 2 points. Obviously, you all failed to catch him or even hinder him. You've no right to disqualify him, or even remove points. Go back to your stations and complete your assignments."

Unsurprisingly, this didn't go over too well. The chuunin were dutiful enough to obey when they received Ibiki's nod. The genin felt as if the boy was receiving special treatment.

A young cloud-nin got up and started clamoring at the unfairness of the situation. Zabuza quickly put a stop to that.

"Shut up." The boy immediately complied.

"Now, I'll say this once, so all of you listen. As you've all probably discovered, this test was designed to test your information gathering skills. You've all done your best to sneak past the examiner's notice, and generally that's a good way to do things. Still… I'll give you a piece of advice. Not every shinobi is going to go around an obstacle to take what they want; some of them will go right through it. If you aren't strong enough to stop them then it's useless. Today, the examiners failed to stop the brat. They were caught off guard. He managed to get to his destination and back with little resistance. He basically took advantage of the situation and it worked splendidly. There's no reason to penalize him. Of course, if you don't agree with my reasoning, you can always leave."

There were no arguments. Zabuza rose from his seat and walked closer to Ibiki.

"How about we cut this short? Continuing this debacle would be meaningless and I sense you have some things to ask me."

Ibiki agreed. He really had no desire to continue with the exam. It truly was pointless at this point. Besides, he had to talk to Anko… but it'd probably be better if he got a chance to speak with Zabuza first. He seemed to know a lot about this.

"Boys and girls, you should all count yourselves lucky. In light of some new information, we've decided to cut the first section short. Anyone remaining has officially passed. Before you go on to the next exam, take a few minutes to meditate. After this, the exam gets physical. At a certain point, you will definitely have to fight each other and there will be a chance of death. If you aren't confident in your fighting ability, I suggest you simply come back when you do. None of you leave this room, someone will arrive soon and they will take over the next part of the exam. Examiners, you're on babysitting duty. Make sure these cute boys and girls play nice." said Ibiki, before nodding to Zabuza. The two left the room immediately after.

* * *

"What happened to Uzumaki?" asked Ibiki as they ran around trying to find Anko. 

"There's nothing wrong with him. If it looks like he's become a different person, that's because he has. It's only temporary though." answered Zabuza.

"What do you mean by that?"

"It's too complicated to explain. If you really want to know, you should find the boy's sensei."

"And who is that?" asked Ibiki as he looked out the window into the courtyard, only to find no trace of the second examiner.

"He founded Force Operation X a few months ago. My direct superior: Nishizaki Teishi."

"I've never heard of him before." Which was odd. Every high ranking shinobi knew each other or at least knew of one another. It wasn't that exactly hard given that they didn't even number in the hundreds.

"No surprise there. Apparently, no one knows who he is. The only thing known about him is that the Hokage trusts him enough to let him build his own compound and annex it to the village." said Zabuza.

"…Momochi-san, tell me something. Why did you, of all people, suddenly decide to join the village?"

"I didn't join the village. I joined Nishizaki-san. As for why… let's just say he made me an offer I couldn't refuse… a trade of sorts."

"If that's true, you're here because he wants you to be. You're here to supervise Force Operation X?"

"Just the boy." This specification didn't surprise Ibiki at all, but he still found it necessary to ask the obvious question.

"What about the others?"

"I asked him the same question. He told me that the others hadn't earned the right to act and that Naruto would have to shoulder the load by himself until his comrades grew strong."

"That doesn't make sense. If they're here it must be because he believes them to stand a relatively good chance of passing. They must have chuunin level skill, or close to it. How strong does he want them to become? For what purpose? How strong is the boy if he has earned the right to act?"

"I can only answer one of those questions. I'm an assassination specialist, but I can hold my own in a fight. As it is right now in a straight fight, with no tricks… I couldn't win. The boy's a combat specialist. According to his sensei, he's already one of the strongest shinobi in the village. What's more…"

"You can stop Momochi-san. It's too obvious, there's no reason why you would tell me this. It's impossible; no jounin's lips are that loose… Nishizaki-san asked you to reveal this."

"Hehehe… looks like he was right about you. Don't worry, I'm not allowed to lie." said Zabuza, his mirth palpable, before he abruptly turned and walked away. Ibiki just watched him go. Trying to make him stay would be foolish. Once Zabuza turned the corner, Ibiki turned back to the window. Suddenly, movement coming from the roof of a nearby building attracted his attention. There was Anko. Unfortunately, she wasn't alone. A masked Anbu was approaching her.

It looks like time is running out.

* * *

Otu learned an important fact today. Being berated publicly by Sakura-chan was not only embarrassing, it was also quite painful. Sakura had the unfortunate habit of punctuating her arguments with physical blows. Fortunately for many people, she reserved her special debating tactics to exclusive individuals. Otu had yet to see her do so with anyone other than him. Unable to handle more, he switched with his brother under the pretext that they weren't under examination and that he should take responsibility for the situation. 

It was a known fact among the unit that while Naruto could take large amounts of pain without flinching, he absolutely abhorred small annoyances. In other words, he hated splinters, paper cuts, needles, etc.

Having his tail fur pulled out one strand at a time ranked pretty high on his list of intolerable pains.

"You idiot… you almost got us all disqualified! What do you have to say for yourself?" asked Sakura, pulling out a strand at each syllable.

"Argh... Sakura-chan, you don't have to… Urgh… Goddamn that stings! Why the hell are you doing this? I did the right thing! It was the only way to… OW! Enough, ENOUGH!"

Sakura was experienced enough in Naruto's reactions to know to let go of him before he jumped from his seat... and accidentally brought his tail down on the table hard enough to break it… and severely damage the floor. The nearby genin had to jump back to stop themselves from falling in the newly made hole in the floor. When the dust settled, Naruto was nowhere to be seen. Before any his friends could cry out to him, a door opened and in walked Naruto, brushing the dust from his person.

"Grumble… stupid… flimsiest building I've ever been in."

Teishi's plan for Naruto to appear cool and enigmatic? RUINED!

A few minutes later, Naruto and his friends sat in a rough circle on various chairs and tables, chatting with one another about their earlier experience. Ignoring 81 genin and a dozen chuunin proved to be easier than they thought.

Most of the genin returned the favour and ignored their lively gathering. They had already dismissed the whole group as a bunch of arrogant fools. However, a few teams were watching their every move. Their scrutiny hadn't gone unnoticed.

"1… 2… 4 teams. One sand, one sound, one grass and Neji's team."

"That's it? I kind of expected more, after that stunt you pulled." said Sasuke.

"It's not my fault if you can't understand the genius."

"Naruto… a child could understand your strategy."

"Just shut up Sasuke. We have more important things to do. One of those genin is like what I used to be."

"…That's a problem… So, how do we find who it is?"

"I have a plan… but it involves me using my aura on everyone in the room and that's probably not a good idea… Who's that guy?" said Naruto, referring to a silver haired teenager who was heading their way. He was wearing large round glasses and Naruto thought he looked like he was about to lecture what he considered to be stupid underclassmen.

"You guys are rookies just out of the academy, right? Chattering like school girls, Geez… this isn't a picnic."

Being right was such a pain…

* * *

Two figures are hidden in shadows, talking without fear of eavesdroppers. 

"How'd it go?"

"Pretty much as you expected, though I have to say I had my doubts."

"I know him better than anyone. Besides, in a situation like that, it was pretty much his only option."

"What's the next step?"

"He must've attracted his attention. With his tail out, he's pretty much unmistakable."

"I was wondering why you let him keep it… although it would be more accurate to say he was forced to do so."

"Shut it Zabuza. I don't need your sass."

"Hehehe… you sure get unpleasant under stress…"

"Are you sure you want to test me?"

"…No, you could say I've learned my lesson. Besides, I won't gain anything if you're dead."

"… Anyway, an ex-Akatsuki like him would never ignore such a transformation in a jinchuuriki. One way or the other, he'll arrange for a meeting. It helps that he and Sasuke are on the same team."

"And this is where I come in?"

"Not exactly. Let Otu fight him alone. Five minutes after the fight starts, interfere. Not a second before or after. Make sure neither of them detects you. If Haku's near you then take him with you. If he isn't then let him finish his task. You probably won't have to fight. The threat of multiple opponents will make him back off."

"Are you sure about this? Naruto might've stood a chance, but Otu…"

"I'm sure. This is necessary. I want Naruto to attract his attention, not drive him off."

"…You're the boss." said Zabuza, before both turned to leave. They had places to be and preparations to complete.

* * *

I'll stop this chapter here. I'd like it better if the next chapter features most of the fighting. 

How's it going? I don't have much time so I'll just spend this time to answer a few questions.

First and foremost, this fic doesn't seem to be in any immediate danger. My love for the series has stopped its decline... probably because I've stopped reading new chapters. In any case, I should be able to continue this story to its completion, unless something comes up.

Some of you may have gotten the wrong idea. Sakura does not enjoy watching pain. Inner-Sakura simply loves to twist facts. And by the way, in Teishi's eyes, all of the genin are currently useless (except Sasuke). You might've noticed that none of them have had much to do. That's because they're all in training. That'll change when they get strong enough. It's like a game of chess except pawns can't attack. They only become useful when they turn into other pieces.

Once again, thank you all for the wonderful reviews.

* * *


	10. Chapter 9

Unfortunately, Naruto didn't have enough time to examine Kabuto's nin-cards for possible container candidates before they were escorted to the place where the second exam would take place.

Upon arriving at one the village's many training areas; the remaining genin were informed of several things. The first was that there wouldn't be a second examiner. The second was that they were to sign a contract that would indemnify the village in case of their deaths. The last was the rules of the exam.

_The remaining teams are to spend 6 hours in practice area #44, nicknamed the forest of death. Their goal is to head towards the tower that is exactly 10 kilometres away from each gate. The tower will remain locked for the entirety of the six hours._

_Once the six hours have passed, a single door will open and will only stay open for a window of five minutes. If a team is unable to enter the tower and have each member personally, and legibly, sign their name on the list, they will fail the exam. Before entry, each team will be handed a scroll which, when opened, will summon a supervisor who will escort you out of the area… by force if necessary. Therefore, you must only open the scroll if you wish to quit._

_It must also be noted that the third and final exam consists of a one on one competition. That is all._

At first, the test seemed surprisingly easy. Few of the genin could even imagine failing it.

Even the supervising chuunin were confused. While they could've understood the fact that Anko had been detained by some important matter, they couldn't understand why her exam had been replaced by this… effortless version.

When the last line was spoken, their opinions switched. It was no longer easy… it was now far too dangerous.

The exam's difficulty rests on its relatively short amount of time. Although they only had to travel 10 kilometres, that distance was filled with wild beasts, poisonous insects and there was also the fact that the terrain wasn't exactly smooth. The record for this particular training area was 4 hours. Assuming that it would take a great team that much time to get there without stopping to rest, that meant that they would have to wait outside the tower for the remaining 2 hours. That was a bad idea.

When the instructions revealed to the genin that the third test would consist of a tournament, it informed them that it would be in their best interest to eliminate as many teams as possible. Furthermore, the instructions also revealed that a team would be unable to complete the test if one of their members was unable to sign their own name. That meant that if one of them was too injured to write, unconscious, missing or dead the team would fail.

It was the hunter vs. the hunted, the predator against its prey. The prey had to escape its predator and the predator had to avoid biting off more than it could chew.

This would prove to be the bloodiest test in the chuunin selection exam's history. Due in no small part to one Sabaku no Gaara.

* * *

"Sasuke, Sakura… get out of here." 

A few moments later, after he noticed that his words garnered no reaction, Otu took his eyes off his opponent and glanced in their direction only to see that his team mates had frozen in fear. The man's shikumi no jutsu had enthralled them and rendered them unable to act. It was understandable, as the jutsu had shown them all a vision of their own gruesome death and not even Otu came out of it intact. Fortunately for all of them, he wasn't alone.

'**Shit. This is not good… not good at all.**

Otu, we need to…

**What are we going to do? We can't win against him…**

Otu, listen to me.

**You don't understand. You don't know what we're up against.**

Akatsuki? Whoever this is can't be much worse.

…**If you know, then you know that we don't stand a chance. If we can't beat Teishi, we won't last 5 minutes against this guy. And that's if you were fighting.**

Look we don't have time. You need to calm down and listen to me. If you do that, everything's going to turn out just fine. Panicking won't help anyone.

**Panic? Who the hell said anything about panic?**

Why do you have to choose now to pick up some of my traits? Look, it's simple. Our first objective is to send Sasuke and Sakura-chan away. We'll never win if we have to worry about them getting caught in the crossfire. Our other objective is to survive long enough for backup to arrive.

**Naruto… I can't do that. I'm not…**

Yes, you can! All you have to do is let loose.

**What was that? NO! Out of the question! I'll destroy everything around here!**

Don't be so uptight, you're forgetting I'm here. I'll stop you if you get out of hand.

**Naruto, don't lie. You know you can't do that. Not if you can't forcefully take control.**

It's our only hope, Otu! We have to make do with what we have. If you don't do this then there's no guarantee that we'll survive this.

**There's no guarantee we'll survive even if I do this.**

But our chances…

**I don't care. No.**

…You won't reconsider?

**…**

…Fine. How much time has passed since you talked to Sasuke?

**I'd say 8 seconds.**

I guess the adrenaline is making this place go faster than usual… which gives us just enough time for a strategy meeting. I'll lead you through this. We won't win, not by a long shot, but we should be able to survive for a few minutes… maybe even land a blow.'

Moments later Otu set the plan in motion by connecting with both his team-mates via his aura, subsequently liberating the both of them by the reassuring feel of his presence. They used their newfound freedom to immediately back away from the fake grass-nin. They probably would've gone a whole lot further if Otu hadn't spoken.

"Guys, I'll fight him. You two head for the tower. Once you get there, Kiba's team will probably approach you. I'll come as soon as I can."

"Wha…What are you going to do?" asked Sasuke. He may have been frightened, but he wasn't about to let Naruto stay and die.

"…There should be a few examiners in the forest, watching the proceedings… if not, then there will be once we start this. They'll help once they get here… there's no way this guy's presence is legitimate."

Otu took a few steps towards Sakura and handed her his sword. After hesitating for a few seconds, she took hold of the hilt and pulled the sword from his hand.

"Why… why are you giving me this?"

"Security. If you run into any trouble, swipe some blood on the symbol with my name. I don't need it anyway, he's the one that uses it." reassured the blond. He turned and faced his enemy and slowly headed in his direction.

"Leave us."

The sound of his voice cut through the fog of uncertainty that restrained both his team-mates. With nods that both knew he couldn't see, Sasuke and Sakura left the area and headed for the tower. There were no reassurances and no well wishes. Certainly no goodbyes. Uzumaki Naruto/Oturan would survive this, period. The feeling of assurance spread by his aura only served to strengthen that fact.

By the time they learned he had the ability to filter out some emotions, it would be too late.

* * *

"You wanted to see me?" 

Anko's curt tone broke through the silence of the office and destroyed the haze Teishi found himself trapped in.

"What was that?" asked the man. Not paying attention was never a good idea.

"I don't believe this… they make me come all the way here, made me leave my position as examiner… and for what? A meeting with a stupid brat?"

Teishi's frown made an early appearance. Barely 10 seconds spent in her presence and already he disliked her.

"Alright. First off, never call me brat again. It's inappropriate, especially when you consider the fact that I'm older than you. Next, I called you here because I'd like to perform an examination…"

"Oh! Now I see… I didn't get called here by a brat. I was called here by a pervert. Well… boy. Which part of my body would you like to examine?" said Anko, her voice nearly dripping with sex.

It was becoming obvious that mockery was her way with coping with frustration. Too bad he wasn't one to shy away from confrontation.

"Another thing: Stop interrupting me. Like I was saying, I'd like to perform an examination of your cursed seal."

Anko apparently had no retort for that one. If this weren't so serious, Teishi might've smiled.

"…What are you talking about?" Anko whispered.

"I'm talking about the cursed seal of heaven that Orochimaru gave you a few years ago." said Teishi with the same softness.

"Then… you should know that seal disappeared a few years ago." said Anko, openly doubting her own words.

"Not exactly. It might've hidden itself, but it is by no means gone. In fact, there's a good chance it'll reappear within the next few days… Well, not really. It'll only reappear if you happen to run across its creator. It just so happens that there is a rather high chance of that happening."

"He… he's here?" Anko's dark eyes tightened and her skin became moist with cold sweat.

"In the flesh. Hey! Hold it right there. You're not leaving this office until I've completed my examination." said Teishi as his guest rose from her seat and headed towards the exit.

"Fuck you." said Anko while giving Teishi the accompanying gesture.

"Now that's not nice. Besides, since I knew this was going to happen, I took the liberty of sealing the exit… as you've just discovered." said Teishi as he watched the kunoichi futilely attempt to exit the room. She stood perfectly still, facing the door while she spoke, her voice carrying enough hostile intent to rival Zabuza.

"Open this door."

"I think I'd rather not." If anything, Teishi's impassiveness only served to aggravate her worse.

"Open this door or so help me…"

"What? See, what you don't understand is that I know where he is. I also have a pretty good idea of what he's doing right now. The second exam should start in a minute. From his starting position, it'll take him approximately 15 minutes to find his target. Then he'll spend around half an hour in that area, before he leaves. Now, the amount of time he needs to get to his destination is the time you'll need to get to his location. That means you have 30 minutes to get past me. My examination takes 7 minutes. Getting past me will take a lot longer. Either we get through this examination and you leave in time to meet your dear sensei… or you start a fight that you will not win. Your choice… my dear." said Teishi, before leaning back into his chair and waiting for an answer.

Anko stood as a statue for only a moment before she turned and approached Teishi. Her resigned expression telling Teishi all he needed to know.

"You're a bastard, you know that?" said Anko, her voice notably lacking in venom.

"And you're not exactly the most pleasant woman I've ever met. Let's get this over with."

* * *

_The first step is easy. Keep him off balance through dialogue. Make him believe that things have been moving behind the scenes without his knowledge. _

Otu took his eyes off the grass-nin and moved his head from one side to the other while keeping his enemy in his line of vision, giving the appearance of examining his surroundings.

"Where's your partner? I thought Akatsuki only moved in pairs… It seems our information has become dated."

_If he's really Akatsuki or even an S-rank shinobi we probably won't see a visible reaction. Don't let that bother you. Second step: don't give him time to think! We want him to think about our words during the fight and not before._

Naruto's words proved true as the grass-nin stood coolly, the smirk on his face not budging a millimetre. The next stage in the plan was put in motion when Otu took a step forward. Slowly, step by step, Otu approached the man. It was likely that this would render the man unable to do much more than watch him for sudden movements.

_Now, this is where it gets a little complicated. At this point, we have two options. We can choose to drag this fight out until backup arrives… or we can go for the kill. _

_In the first option, we hold back until he takes the fight up a notch. In other words, we match our opponent's skill until we reach our maximum. Once we do, we're pretty much done for. In the second option, we hold back until we see an opportunity to strike. That strike will determine whether we win or lose although if we're lucky, that strike will force him to retreat._

With nary a moment's hesitation, Otu choose the second option. He wanted that man dead. Besides, he didn't think he'd be able to keep himself from exploiting any openings. He pointedly ignored the feeling that told him that openings would be non-existent.

_In that case, we need to take him out while he's off guard. To do that, we need to trick him into making as many assumptions as possible. Here's what I have in mind…_

_Bluff #1: Lead him to believe that we can only use a single element by withholding the use of the other rings. If he expects a burst of flame and gets hit by lightning instead, then he'll have a much harder time dodging it._

_Bluff #2: When you use the rings, act as though you need to perform handseals._

_Bluff #3: Act as though our tail were the strongest part of our body._

_Bluff #4: This is a tough one. Deactivate our regeneration._

_If we use these bluffs together, we should be able to get a good hit in. But we'd better make sure that one hit ends the bout. _

_This is probably the easiest course of action. First, start with some taijutsu; he has to be close for this to work. Let him get a good hit in, preferably one that should be lethal to a normal human, because there's no way we'll hit him if it isn't a counter. Next, grab one of his arms; we don't want him to be able to use jutsu. He should be less weary of our arms if we managed to fool him into thinking they were weaker than our tail. If we actually manage to get to this point, we're pretty much home free. The last thing to do is to unleash our entire arsenal on him. In fact, we should probably perform the act known as overkill…just to be sure he doesn't survive._

By the time Naruto finished his words, the man had gotten tired of waiting for his opponent to arrive in striking distance and charged.

A few hundred meters away, Zabuza was observing the situation through binoculars. He motioned to his young charge to start the countdown. Haku nodded, closed his eyes and concentrated on the passage of time.

T-300 seconds and counting.

Oturan side-stepped around the punch and threw a punch of his own, aimed at the grass-nin's ribcage. The man skillfully stopped in his tracks and quickly stepped back so that Otu's fist passed harmlessly in front of him. He would've grappled his arm if Otu hadn't followed through on the momentum and continued to spin. As it was, he was much too busy dodging Oturan's tail to grab him.

Instead of retreating to a safe distance, the man back flipped away from the tail and thrust his arm towards Otu. An instant later, four snakes burst from his wrist and flew towards the boy. Otu quickly jumped back and formed two handseals… sloppily, if it had been an actual jutsu, it probably would've failed. However, the gesture was more than enough to serve its purpose.

The demon channelled some chakra through the Katon ring and waved his left arm towards the incoming snakes, unleashing a wave of scorching flame. The flames engulfed the reptiles and consumed their flesh, killing them instantly.

Otu looked up to realize that he had lost sight of his opponent. However he didn't have to waste any time searching as the man announced his presence immediately and vocally.

_Ninpou: Kuchiyose no jutsu._

T-270 seconds and counting.

* * *

"Well? Have you found anything?" asked Anko as she lay on Teishi's desk. Her captor had stopped moving for a few seconds and it was starting to worry her. Plus, she had taken her coat off and it was unnaturally chilly in the office. She had anxiously waited for the moment where he would notice her erect nipples so she could tease him, but it had never happened. At this point, she was ready to brand him queer and be done with it. 

"We need to go. Now." said Teishi as he jogged to the door, unsealing it with haste.

"Aren't you going to tell me what you found? … and who the hell said you were coming with me?" said Anko as she put her trench coat back on.

"Something's come up. The cursed seal isn't what I thought it was. I believed it was a type of sigil, but… I need to stop this. Sorry Anko, but you won't get to sacrifice your life to redeem yourself today. Naruto must not receive a cursed seal." Teishi finished removing the seal on the door and ran out.

"Who said I was going to sacrifice… Hey! Wait for me!"

* * *

Otu jumped from his perch on a tree branch to avoid yet another lunge from the huge snake. He was in a rather tough bind. If he had to, he could kill the two story snake in a single blow. However, doing so would alert the man, also known as the snake sannin Orochimaru, to the fact that things weren't exactly as they seemed and the chance of him getting a good blow in would become infinitesimal. 

Somehow, he had to kill a giant snake with his tail and a Katon jutsu… without packaging too much chakra in a single jutsu. Some planning with his brother and Otu had a workable plan. He'd need to use kage bunshin, but that wasn't much of a problem.

When the snake next attacked, Otu made a series of short jumps back and allowed the reptile to slowly catch up to him. When the snake was close enough, Otu jumped so that one of the forest's huge tree trunks blocked the snake's view of him. In that moment, he created a kage bunshin and had it take his place. A second later, he knew the plan had worked when the snake followed the clone. He didn't think he had managed to fool the sannin, but that was irrelevant at the moment.

He quickly and stealthily moved so that he was directly above the snake and jumped directly towards him. The snake failed to notice his approach and that would be its last mistake.

In mid-flight, Otu curled into a ball and started spinning forwards. When he reached his target, the tail's strength was increased by his velocity then hit the snake right between the eyes with great ferocity. The impact carried the snake until it slammed down on the ground a few meters below. After the strike connected, Otu formed two handseals and formed an orb of flames in his hand. Since the snake was near unconsciousness, Otu had no trouble charring past the snake's eye and unloading a burst of flame in its cranium. The fire burned through everything on its way out. Large bursts of flames exited the snake's mouth, its two nostrils, its other eyeball and some artificial holes created by its presence in the body.

By the time he pulled his stained left arm out of the blackened and smoking carcass, he realized that his kage bunshin had been forcefully dispelled. Sudden movement produced a disturbance in the environment. It was detected thanks to Otu's sense of hearing and warned him of incoming danger… predominantly, the sharp sound of a blade parting air.

T-200 seconds and counting.

* * *

Teishi could not take any chances. Who knew what would happen if he allowed… He couldn't help Naruto himself just yet but he'll at least allow him to help himself. 

He reached in a pocket and drew a special tag and attached it to his hand. When he pulled it off it left behind an exact ink construct of Naruto's sigil. He channelled a little chakra through the mark and whispered words softly, so that Anko wouldn't hear and ask questions. Naruto wouldn't be able to consciously hear him since telepathy wasn't one of his abilities… but he'd still understand.

"The meaning is lost, the pact is broken and the bound freed… Your chains have shattered and the limit made unreal…"

* * *

Oturan was seriously considering the benefits of reducing the nearby area to ash. Orochimaru wasn't one of the mist's seven swordsmen but his ability with the kusanagi would've allowed him to keep up with Zabuza for some time. The fact that Otu didn't have a sword didn't make it easier to dodge… not that he could use a sword even if he had one. 

The boy ducked under the slash, back-stepped away from the hook, used both arms to block the spin kick and had to quickly dodge lest the sword impale his head. He wasn't quite fast enough though and he received a small flesh wound on his cheek for his efforts. The problem is that he had received over two dozen of these small flesh wounds over his body and it was beginning to affect his performance. The other problem was that the attacks were coming too quickly for him to counter under his current restrictions.

Certainly… destroying a few acres of forest and hoping that the sannin would be in the blast radius was starting to look like a great idea.

Otu jumped back to avoid the following strike, only to trip over a tree root. As he tried to regain his balance and dodge the next blow, the roots wrapped themselves around his legs. A closer look dispelled the illusion and revealed the concealed snakes. Before he could destroy them and make his escape, he felt a long blade run through his waist.

Naruto was many things and his alter-ego Otu shared many of them. However, there were a number of the key elements that one possessed that the other found himself lacking.

When Naruto was easy-going, Otu was usually serious. Where Naruto was compassionate, Otu was ruthless. They may share many of the same characteristics, but their cores are different.

At heart, Naruto was a gentle boy who craved positive attention, wrapped in the shell of a powerful shinobi.

Otu… was a beast. A beast wrapped in a thick coating of intelligence. However, there are times where he abandons his intelligence in favour of his more beastly instincts.

In both cases, intense emotions are powerful enough to crack and temporarily remove that which surrounds them. It has been proven that some emotions work better than all others. In Naruto's case, kindness is all it takes. However, Otu is defenceless against rage; white-hot all consuming rage simply chars through his intelligence and reveals the beast caged within.

That was another difference between them. Naruto wore a shell to protect himself whereas Otu did the same to protect others.

The link with their current situation is that Oturan lacked many skills that Naruto has learned during his time with Teishi. If one could name Otu's position within Naruto, he would be called an administrator. He was not a pilot. If truth be told, Otu was barely even a shinobi. The only shinobi skills he had were the ones concerning stealth. He possessed none of the shinobi's trademark attacks. Without his raw power, he would be at an academy student's level.

Oturan did not own Naruto's ability to suppress, ignore and tolerate pain. Nor did he remain impassive in the face of personal injury. Otu's anger had been growing with every injury that the sannin had dealt him. It had grown to the point where it seemed as though Naruto was on the other side of a wall and Otu could no longer hear him. Normally, Naruto would've broken that wall by taking control, but he wasn't allowed to do that.

He was about three seconds from losing all rational thought when he felt it: the overwhelmingly soothing feeling of broken restraints. He quickly forced control on his brother and expressed his fury in the one place where he wouldn't hurt anyone or destroy anything.

T-175 seconds and counting.

* * *

Naruto was immersed in the disorientation that followed the unexpected and forceful input of information. From experience, he learned that the best way to deal with the situation was to acknowledge the different disturbances one after the other. 

First, the mental input. He was in control and suffered no ill effects. That was important, but he couldn't remember why…

Second, the audible input. He could hear his brother roaring in rage as he manifested his wrath. It was best to leave him be, he'd calm down eventually. He could also hear breathing… disturbingly close, but that would have to wait.

Third, the tactile input… he had a sword lodged in his abdomen? It had damaged his small intestine and several blood vessels and the blood was leaking in his intestines, which meant that he would shit blood that night but it had missed most of his major arteries and veins. He'd have to be careful when he pulled the weapon out of his body or he might end up disembowelled. As bad as the wound was, it wasn't entirely unusual. What was more interesting was the annoying pain emerging from his throat, almost as if he had been slightly pierced by two senbon needles. Was he having a sparring match with Haku? If so, how the hell did he lose? And why did that area feel so warm and wet? The wound wasn't big enough to warrant that much blood so it had to be another liquid. And now that he noticed, he was being restrained; this was starting to look real bad.

Now he moved on to the visual input and the picture knocked his memory into place. The sannin had both maxillary canines clamped on his neck. And he was pretty sure he could feel some licking.

He was disgusted, appalled and quite sickened. He felt dirty. He'd make sure to take a through bath and get his shots when this was over. Who knew what diseases that man carried?

"Well, well, well… it won't take hold. Aren't you special, little fox-child? Shall we see what's hidden behind that blindfold?"

Even his voice revolted him… slightly raspy, slightly smooth and all creepy. The man's voice alone was enough to send chills down his spine. Naruto wanted nothing more to do with this man, ever. If he had to kill him to ensure that happened, then he would do it without hesitation.

That feeling was intensified when he felt the man's hand on his face as he slowly moved it to the tissue covering his eyes. Suddenly, he had an idea. He didn't know if it'd help him any, but the more false-truths that man believed, the better.

The instant Orochimaru moved the blindfold off his face, the boy allowed his aura to establish a connection between them.

Predictably, the S-Rank criminal had failed to expect that, evidenced by his sudden retreat. Naruto's abundant hatred of the man and his previously hidden and massive chakra supply made itself known in an unmistakable way. Naruto knew that his opponent wouldn't be in a hurry to attack. If he knew anything about his opponent, it was the fact that he was a scientist and as such, morbid fascination would only allow him to watch until he saw hostile movement. So Naruto decided to take his time, his best bet was still to await backup.

Slowly, lethargically, Naruto raised his hand from where it hung at his side. He steadily guided his hand to the hilt of the sword that was imbedded in his body and once he took hold, he gradually pulled it out until he could let it fall to the ground. The removal of the weapon seemed as though it flipped a switch, for as soon as it left, every wound on his body began to heal at an accelerated rate. Every wound fumed red haze until the flesh completely regenerated. 10 seconds later, the boy stood undamaged. Orochimaru stood a dozen feet away, gleeful interest all over his face… even though it probably wasn't his real face.

Naruto allowed his aura to establish a connection between himself and the snakes holding him down. There was a slight moment of hesitation before they let him go and slithered away, and it was caused by fear and not by any loyalty to their master. They knew when they were outmatched and their instinct didn't get any clearer than that. Actually, they were rather thankful that Naruto didn't just rip them off him.

Their eyes met… scientific appreciation in black and loathing dancing in azure.

"Fantastic… that was breathtaking Naruto-kun." Hearing the man address him only served to increase Naruto's anger. Being acknowledged by one of the strongest shinobi in existence meant nothing to him. At this point, he doubted there was anything the man could do that would weaken it.

"Orochimaru, right? What's an S-Rank missing-nin like you doing here?" Even though it was surely unnecessary, Naruto made sure his voice adequately carried the disdain he possessed for the sannin. The man merely laughed which served to send another surge of hatred through Naruto.

"Ooh… you're curious?"

"If you want, I can just beat it out of you. Don't think you're going to get away with biting me, you sick bastard… and you might as well take that mask off. That face doesn't suit you."

Orochimaru gave him a creepy little smile and did as he was asked. Naruto gave a fierce grimace and barely resisted the urge to look away. That pale face, those features… those eyes.

"…Never mind. Put the mask back on." The smile on the pale man's face didn't even budge. It was annoying.

"My, my… aren't you insolent. Shall I sever your tongue, child?" Naruto couldn't help it. His expression involuntarily warped into a vicious grin.

"Go ahead… I'll just grow a new one."

The time for words was over. Now, they fought. Naruto wasn't about to hold back and neither was the snake-sannin. Round two was about to start, and it was for keeps.

T-90 seconds and counting.

Orochimaru immediately flew into a lightning fast succession of handseals, which was quickly interrupted when he had to dodge actual lightning. Naruto quickly raised his left hand to join his right and formed a cross shaped seal.

_Kage bunshin no jutsu_

With a burst of smoke, three doppelgangers appeared in front of the genin.

It is a well-known fact that kage bunshin equally separates the chakra available between the clones. However, since Naruto has two chakra sources, only one source is divided when he uses the jutsu. Since he used the blue kind to create his clones, each duplicate created received a percentage of that kind. He doesn't have the control necessary to use that technique with his other chakra supply.

That meant that if he created too many clones they wouldn't be able to use his more chakra-consuming jutsu. With his current chakra supply and control, a clone would need 20 percent of his blue chakra to have complete access to his jutsu arsenal. It also meant that Naruto could increase the strength of a particular clone by injecting it with red chakra.

With a gesture, Naruto sent off his clones to engage Orochimaru. Soon after, the sannin found himself having a hard time keeping up with the clone's style of attack. The clones surrounded him and used their claws on their hands and feet to climb on the trees and pushed off with their powerful limbs. Using this technique, they were able to move with great speed as they pushed off one tree to another, randomly showering the man with quick blows and utilizing their rings fully.

Orochimaru side-stepped around a lightning bolt, ducked under a large fireball, leaped off the ground to avoid a high speed tackle and was blown off course by a sudden wind gust. He should've slammed into a tree trunk with great velocity but he sunk into it instead, almost as if it was quicksand, until he disappeared from view.

A doppelganger positioned on a large branch was dispelled a few seconds later when an arm grew out of it and pierced its heart. The two remaining clones shot simultaneous streams of blaze and incinerated the branch. There was silence in the area that was only dispelled when a kunai shot out of a tree and dispelled another clone. The last clone didn't even waste time on a counterattack. It attempted to move back to the original body in order to provide some backup, but it was cut down before it could reach the ground.

Meanwhile, Naruto was standing on ground floor with both hands held together. The bunshin's only purpose was to buy him time as gathering large amounts of chakra was a lot harder without Otu. Once he felt he had gathered enough energy, he formed a handseal combination, knelt on the ground and pressed both hands against it.

_Doton jutsu: Silvicide_

Silvicide is the word that represents the killing of trees. The jutsu's purpose is to destroy or weaken the roots of any tree within the attack radius. Since Naruto's supply is so immense, he could realistically kill the entire forest. But that wouldn't serve any purpose, so he restrained himself to a 200 meter radius (roughly 0.04 percent of the forest). After a few seconds, the roots that were above ground visibly cracked and withered until they couldn't possibly support much. All they needed now was a little push.

"Hey! Snake-freak! I'm giving you a chance to come out!"

The yell reverberated through the forest and garnered no response.

"Suit yourself." muttered the boy with a shrug.

Naruto raised his right arm above his head and activated the Fuuton ring. Immediately, a fierce whirlwind picked up around him. With the tree's weakened roots, it only took a few seconds before a tree fell against another tree with a great crash. After that, every weakened tree fell on top of one another, in a clockwise circle, until they resembled nothing more than giant circular stack of firewood. The event created a lot of noise and must've been heard in the entire forest and maybe even beyond. If he was lucky, backup shouldn't take much longer.

Naruto produced flames in his left hand and was about to ignite the pile when he felt something moving towards him at high speeds. Luckily, he had detected the threat early so he had no trouble dodging the strike. As the fast moving object passed by his chest, the section of his thought process that controlled recognition activated. Orochimaru apparently had the ability to control the kusanagi remotely.

Unfortunately, Naruto's preoccupation with the blade's flight path created a slight weakness in his vigilance; he would learn that a slight flaw was close to a chasm to experts such the sannin. One second he was observing the blade for any changes in directory, the next he found himself with his opponent's body wrapped around him. The odd part was that Orochimaru's skeleton seemed to have lost bones and stretched seeing that his arms, legs and torso coiled around the boy's equivalents. What annoyed Naruto most is that the man had somehow managed to pin his tail down with the kusanagi and that he had his teeth dug deep in his throat. But the hanyou wouldn't let that distract him.

Not only had the man's actions increased his anger to dangerously murderous levels, he had also made the mistake of getting into extremely close range.

T-10 seconds and counting.

First and foremost, Naruto had to make sure that his opponent would stand still long enough for him to get a good blow in. Suddenly and with far more force than was necessary, Naruto grabbed Orochimaru's flexible leg with his right hand, completely ignoring the arm that was still wrapped around his own. Orochimaru simply didn't have the physical force needed to restrain him.

Once he took hold of the limb, he let go a slightly charged raiton, effectively disabling the man's ability to move. While he could've used a high powered raiton and killed the missing-nin outright, that would've resulted in his own death and he wasn't particularly fond of that idea. As it was, his regeneration just barely allowed him to shrug the damage off. Quickly, as time was short, he reached up, took hold of the man's abundant black hair and pulled down with all his might. The soft, rubbery body easily slid off his own after which he threw it against the ground.

The body viciously impacted the ground and bounced off it. If the man had any bones, they would've surely cracked. Before the body even returned to the ground, Naruto formed a highly concentrated inferno in his left hand, kicked the man a dozen feet away, aimed and threw it like a fastball.

The pocket inferno's velocity caused the subsequent explosion to expand away from Naruto, created a large conical crater three inches deep at the tip, three feet deep at the end and set the fallen trees on fire. Orochimaru was nowhere in sight as he was obscured by dust and smoke, but Naruto would take no chances.

'And now for the finisher…'

The hanyou crossed his arms tightly at his sides and transformed his ten fingernails into deadly claws. He then hunched forward and couldn't stop a roar from escaping his lungs as he packed his claws with as much chakra as he could manage. When his hands were starting to singe faster than he could heal, he arched his back as far as it could go and released… letting devastation escape with open arms.

T-0.

An obtuse angle.

270 degrees, 135 with each arm, for a distance of 250 meters and a height of 44 feet…40 over ground and 4 under. Everything in that area was wiped from the face of the earth. There was nothing left but the dirt under it. For the first 200 meters, there were no trees, no grass… nothing. And in the 50 meters remaining were dying trees… trees that were disconnected from their roots by his attack. What was most unnerving was that the hazy red wave was silent. It created no sound as it moved and only produced a slight sizzling sound as it disintegrated matter.

He didn't know how much chakra he packed in his claws, but he knew that he'd only be able to use it twice a day… maybe even three times if he pushed it. Covering that same area with flames or thunder would've been far less chakra consuming.

It was the single most powerful attack he had ever used… and it still hadn't been enough.

"It's too bad really. It would've been better if he had died here."

Naruto didn't turn to face his two companions. He jumped into the crater in front of him and headed towards the only thing left besides dirt, the wound in his tail healing quickly, the kusanagi blade having disappeared when Zabuza and Haku arrived. The two followed him, unperturbed by his rudeness.

"It doesn't matter; I'll just have to kill him next time." said Naruto, his empty voice completely failing to hint the others as to his mood.

"It's not that easy. He was playing around this time, his aim wasn't to kill. Who knows what'll happen next time? At the very least, he won't make any mistakes… we don't even know what he would've done if we hadn't shown up. I don't think you injured him enough to impede his fighting ability." lectured Zabuza. Haku stayed silent at his side.

Naruto gave them a quick look and noticed a brand new leaf forehead protector around Haku's neck. If he remembered correctly, since the boy wasn't on mist's shinobi roster when he joined Zabuza, he wasn't technically a missing-nin, which allowed the Hokage to make him a leaf shinobi with no trouble. Zabuza's situation was a little more… complicated. The hanyou barely even realize that he was avoiding thinking about the subject.

The three shinobi stopped as they arrived at their destination. They could see four matching gates, red pillars endowed with spikes, chains holding the door closed and a monstrous grey visage staring at them. The first three were damaged to the point of being useless, as the face was missing completely or partially in all three and the pillars were cracked and missing… but the last had only received moderate damage.

"…Next time… I'll focus it… or I'll do it point-blank. I'm out of here. I've got a team to find and an exam to complete." said Naruto before he ran off in the direction of the tower. He didn't even have to be asked to stop. He knew as soon as he felt his presence. Naruto turned to face Teishi and his companion.

While the woman was staring at the carnage in shock, Teishi's face was stone. The boy sighed.

This will take a while.

* * *

Man, when I started writing this chapter I had forgotten how hard it was to write a good fight (and I'm not even sure I succeeded). Three quarters of the time it took to write this chapter was spent researching on Orochimaru's possible abilities. It'll be even harder next time cuz then he'll aim to kill. 

Well, that's all I had to say today. Until next time! Tell me what you thought about it, a little motivation helps a lot!


	11. Chapter 10

It's been a few months since the last update and I'm sorry to say it'll probably be a few months for the next. I've been neglecting my other works too much recently and I want to get the next chapter of Halcyon Days up before I continue this one.

On a more positive note, I'd like to personally thank my 100th reviewer: thsunami. My thanks extend to everyone who reviewed... and even those who didn't. This would've never been possible without all your support, be it verbal or silent(imagined).

I hope you'll like this chapter. It's quite special as it leads into one of my favorite plot twists.

_By the way, UzumakiYondaime... could you send your list of requirements again? I kind of lost it...sorry._

* * *

After they left Naruto with his opponent, Sasuke and Sakura ran about three hundred meters before equipping their sneaking suits. While Sakura stored Naruto's sword in a scroll, Sasuke set up his built in radio so that it amplified Sakura's signal. With that setup, any ally within 2.26 kilometres would be notified of their presence. Once all their preparations were complete, they engaged their camouflage and took off at a brisk pace. 

The duo travelled in silence, ignoring the sounds of Naruto's battle and avoiding all contact with other teams and wild animals. They rarely stopped to rest, fear of pursuit feeding their urgency. After nearly two hours of frantic cross country travel, they finally received a response via radio.

It was Kiba's team. They had secured a location relatively near the tower and were waiting for the other teams before they tried to approach it.

* * *

The blond boy stopped dead in his tracks and gave his companion an incredulous glance, stunned as he was by the woman's previous declaration. 

"Don't give me that look. I said I _was_ his student. He pretty much forfeited his teacher license when he betrayed the village and cursed me." The boy broke his stare and resumed his trek. It took no time for him to catch up with Anko and both resumed their walk towards the tower.

To make a long story short, Teishi issued Naruto a babysitter until the end of the exam. The two spent the last half an hour engaging in idle conversation. Against their own expectations, the two of them got along fine.

Naruto shook his head and forcefully declared his opinion on the subject. "That asshole should seek therapy. I'd like him better if he was heavily medicated. Who the hell goes around biting people?"

"Humph… no one told you how the curse was administered… you lied." Anko's voice was as light and playful as always since she wasn't surprised in the least.

"Of course I did. If I had told the truth, Teishi's little examination would've taken all day! As long as I'm here my team mates are perfect targets. It's bad enough that I had to waste two whole hours…" Naruto's complaint degenerated into a barely audible grumble, but Anko had more than enough practice deciphering such noises and understood perfectly.

"If you're such in a hurry, then why are we walking so slowly?"

"Oh, about that… I already left. I'm just a clone I left here to keep you company." Naruto's confession was made with so little care that it would've enraged her…

"I know. What? Don't tell me you thought I wouldn't notice?"

…if she wasn't trailing some 30 feet behind him.

"…Huh? Hey! That _is_ you! Good thing you told me, I was about to attack." yelled the real Naruto (3.86 kilometres from the clone's location) as the Anko clone burst out of existence.

The last remaining clone dispelled while the two companions reunited and starting travelling full speed towards the tower.

* * *

Once Naruto's absence was explained, the five moved on to the next step: securing a location as close to the tower as possible. Prompting from Kiba led Hinata to activate her byakugan and use its long range to examine the tower. 

"_Owl? Can you see the tower?"_ asked Sasuke via radio.

"…" The lack of response was worrying. Hinata was never preoccupied to the point where she ignored others.

"_Snow? What's wrong?"_ Kiba's query went unanswered.

"…"

"_Wolf, Mantis, is Snow Owl okay? I can't see her from here."_ The boys' answer to Sakura's question was interrupted and rendered void when the girl in question spoke.

"…_I spy with my little eye… a monster. A red haired waif with terrible amber eyes is spreading death around him, releasing his sorrow the only way he can… wearing sand as a second skin."_ Hinata's detached whisper came abruptly and forced the others to increase the radio's volume. The words they managed to capture weren't reassuring in the least. In fact, her voice sent a vicious shiver down everyone's spines.

"_Hinata? What are you trying to say?" _asked Shino as he slowly, nearly imperceptibly, released a slight amount of bugs in an attempt to tag his female team-mate. If she noticed, she paid him no heed. Sakura silently agreed with Shino's decision to use her real name, the young heir might not respond to anything else.

"_The sand… it reveals the boy's hidden shape…"_

"_Hinata-chan…what…"_ Although all tried, none of them could find anything suitable to say. Their dread only increased when the black haired girl started singing.

Spontaneous singing has never been so eerie.

"_Half – his – face – is – that – of – a – man – the – o-ther – that – of – a – fiend. _

_The - bad-ger – king – will – ma-ni-fest – when – the – war-den – falls - a-sleep._

_As – soon – as – his – stare – meets – the – soon – to – die – have – signed – their – crime – on – the – dotted – line."_

Melancholic, ominous and mysterious are words that come to mind when describing Hinata's musical performance. All things that girl usually avoided like the plague.

"_Hinata. That was creepy."_ Kiba's remark succeeded in lightening the mood Hinata's spine-chilling song had set. It was then that the four noticed that none of them could actually see the girl.

"…_I'm sorry Kiba-kun, but I couldn't help it. Naruto-kun always did love nursery rhymes." _If anything, Hinata's statement about Naruto's likes only served to confuse them more. The fact that the Hyuuga heir's voice became as permeated with bliss as any of them had ever heard it was also cause for worry.

"_Naruto? What the hell does he have to do with any of this? … and that barely even rhymed!"_

"_Naruto-kun has everything to do with this, Kiba-kun. Unfortunately, no one ever taught Naruto-kun any nursery rhymes, so he had to make his own. His version doesn't have to include rhymes as that was too hard for him to do at the time."_

Kiba really had no idea how to respond to that. _"Uh… okay."_

On the other hand, Sakura found that she had questions she wanted answered. As far as she knew, Naruto never talked about his past to anyone. _ "Hinata-chan… how do you know that?"_

"_I saw him, Sakura-chan."_ Hinata's answer was simple and to the point. More proof that she wasn't acting normally.

"_You… saw? When?"_

"_I don't remember. It was a long time ago…"_

Sakura was the first and only one to understand. The fact that Hinata couldn't even estimate a date meant that the incident wasn't unique and the chances of it being accidental are slim.

"_I've been watching Naruto-kun for a very long time Sakura-chan. I can barely even remember a time when I didn't. But I don't have time to chat anymore, Sakura-chan. There is something I must to do."_

"_What do you have to do Hinata-chan ?"_

"_Why, I must go help Neji-niisan or the monster will feast on his flesh."_ If there was ever a doubt that Hinata's behaviour was odd, it was gone now. Her words simply didn't match with the emotions she was emitting.

Sasuke had heard enough. He moved from his position on a thick tree branch and leaped down to the ground floor. He pulled down his facemask and spoke directly to the others after they emerged around him.

"We'll go after her. We don't want her to run into…"

Sasuke's instructions were interrupted when a breeze picked up. Normally, it wouldn't have warranted such a reaction, but adrenaline and severe uneasiness had increased the group's general awareness. Under normal circumstances, they probably wouldn't have noticed the fact that the gentle breeze was strewn with screams.

However, the stench of fresh blood that the wind carried wouldn't have escaped an Inuzuka's attention, no matter how distracted they were.

Sakura… "Those screams… they're coming from the tower."

Shino… "My insects tell me that this breeze is unnatural. They can taste the chakra in the air."

Kiba… "Blood and lots of it…I can smell 10 different aromas all coming from the tower." He opened a portion of his suit's chest and revealed his canine partner. After taking a few whiffs, the puppy barked some information before returning to the safety and warmth of the suit. "Akamaru says he can smell at least 8 more."

And finally… "Naruto warned me that one of the genin was a jinchuuriki and according to Hinata-san, a male genin from the Hidden Sand is our primary enemy. We can catch up to Hinata and take him out now or we can wait until backup arrives and take him out then."

In spite of the situation, Kiba didn't stop a grin from twisting his features into something decidedly savage. "I'm glad you don't consider waiting until the end as an alternative."

Sasuke nodded to his ally and motioned to the others that they should continue this conversation on the move. A second later, they were moving at a decent pace, prioritizing stealth over speed. With that in mind, they pulled up their facemasks and continued their conversation over the radio. Hinata would be able to hear them and if they were lucky, it would convince her to at least wait for them to arrive.

"_Well, I'm getting a little tired of waiting. I'm not sure if you've figured this out yet, but the boss normally makes sure that none of us get to fight. Phoenix once told me that the boss felt like none of us could handle a real combat situation and that he also felt like we couldn't handle real training and that pushing us to that degree would only make us leave the unit. I think that he's looking for a sign, a sign that we're ready and that we're here because we want to be and not because of any misguided sense of duty. For some reason, he seems to think that we're valuable to the point where he won't take any risks concerning us. I don't know about you, but I'm getting a little tired of staying in the compound all the damned time." _

"_That's certainly explains some things… although I do have a question. What makes you so sure Hinata speaks the truth?"_ asked Shino doubtfully. While he wasn't one to doubt his team-mates, he felt he had more than enough reason to suspect her information.

"_I don't know. It's just a feeling."_

"_Sasuke-kun… you're sounding like Naruto." _She had to remember to tell Naruto to stop bothering Sasuke on the weekends. They were obviously spending too much time together. A quick look inside revealed that her inner-self was still missing, which probably meant Naruto couldn't be too far away. It also meant he wasn't dead. That revelation shouldn't have been so relieving considering she was basing it on a feeling… but it seems that even though she hadn't really spent any time with the boy in weeks, she was starting to sound like him as well.

Sasuke spared her a short glance before he sighed and continued with his explanation._ "I know. Remember what Hinata-san told Kiba? If there's any truth to her statement, then her condition's probably brought on by something he did… and considering what happened to the other Hyuuga…"_

A previously unheard voice filtered through the tiny speakers into the ears of the group. "_What are you saying Sasuke?"_

"_What I'm saying is that it is likely that Hinata has been influenced, voluntarily or otherwise, by Naruto's power. I doubt you didn't think of the possibility, Shikamaru."_

Shikamaru let go of a grunt that signified acknowledgment and continued._ "Chouji, Ino and I have been monitoring the situation from the beginning. We're about ten meters behind Hinata and we'll defend her if necessary. I don't like going in without a plan but we can't formulate one without even having a rudimentary idea of the opponent's abilities. The only one of us who's actually seen the opponents is Hinata and I don't think she'd be willing to share that information."_

Hinata immediately let her disagreement be known to the boy. _"What makes you say that Shikamaru-kun?"_

It was with much dismay that they noted the lack of change in the normally shy girl. If they were to trust the variations in pitch expressed by her voice, she was still in an abnormally cheerful mood. Despite his increasing irritation, Shikamaru didn't miss a beat and responded immediately. _"I'd say it was the fact that you haven't participated in the conversation until now. What can you tell us about our opponents and their abilities?"_

"_Don't be silly Shikamaru-kun because even if I didn't want to, I would help you all anyway. Naruto-kun wouldn't like it if I didn't help my friends._

"_The only ones left standing are Neji-nissan, his team-mates and the three Hidden Sand ninja: two shinobi and a kunoichi. The badger king is by far the most dangerous of the three. He possesses extreme control over sand. He is able to control it without actual physical movement and the large gourd he carries on his back is filled with it. Even worse is the fact that he's protected by an automated sand shield. The shield always places itself between the badger king and any incoming physical attack. This happens regardless of any sensible will and cannot be turned off. Kunai and shuriken are completely ineffective. If one isn't fast enough to go past it, and I assure you that none of us are, then the only other choice is to go through it. If Naruto-kun were here it would be easy, but as he's not…_

"_The black clothed shinobi with the face paint is a puppet user, and the blonde kunoichi can generate powerful winds with her fan. In spite of their skill and power, they don't really matter at all."_

"_Because of the red haired kid?"_ asked Shikamaru after taking a few seconds to formulate a basic plan. It was harder than he'd hoped. If he trusted the information he had available, his scenario only left him with three possible attackers: Chouji, Ino and Shino. Chouji had the most brute force out of all of them, Ino's attacks weren't physical and Shikamaru hoped Shino's kikai bugs would be able to dig through the sand.

"_Yes. His team-mates don't matter because they have wisely chosen not to interfere with his battles. As such, as long as the badger king is able to fight and we don't direct any of our attacks towards them, they won't attack us."_

"_What makes you so sure?"_

A melodious giggle filtered through the miniature speakers and into the ears of the group. Hinata giggled like a child when faced with a prospect it found ridiculous. Truthfully, the fact that the laughter was directed at him annoyed the young genius more than anything he could remember. He may not show it very often, but Shikamaru took pride in his intelligence. Having his favourite trait belittled so carelessly rubbed him entirely the wrong way.

"_Silly Shikamaru-kun… no one wishes for the monster to stir from its cage, least of all those who actually care about the prison's well-being. What kind of siblings would they be if they just let their younger brother be consumed from the inside?"_

The latest revelation cleared up part of his displeasure and allowed him to confirm one of his suspicions. Had her bloodline really been altered? _"They're siblings? How do you know?"_

"_I know, because I can see, Shikamaru-kun. It's hard… the badger king… Gaara. Gaara is so hard to look at… but I can still… see."_

* * *

Fear. She thought she had gotten used to it after spending so many years with Gaara. She believed… hoped that she wouldn't ever feel anything beyond that slight unease that was a constant whenever she was near her youngest brother. 

She hadn't counted on the second exam being a blatant invitation to kill as many opponents as possible.

Although technically, his actions during on that afternoon didn't change the way she perceived her life expectancy. She had never held any illusions about that… one wrong move and she would just be another name on Gaara's long list of kills. The anxiety she now felt around her brother wasn't born of the danger she was in. She had come to terms with that.

No, what Sabaku no Temari felt as she stood outside practice area #44's central tower was not terror. She was not terrified… she was horrified.

Truthfully, she could not understand why this sight disturbed her so. It was not as if this came as a surprise, she knew that death was all that awaited whoever had the misfortune to stand in Gaara's way… so why?

Why did this vision make her want to close her eyes and draw away, to hide deep within herself and deny this evening's very existence? It was not as if this was the first time she saw her brother kill and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

After their arrival, Gaara had done nothing but wait for opponents. The first team arrived an hour and a half after they did. They foolishly stepped out of cover and made their intentions known. Gaara killed all three in 7 seconds. He didn't even give them enough time to launch an attack. Usually Gaara liked to let his opponents realize the futility of their situation before he ended them.

What Temari couldn't possibly know is that Gaara had felt the energies released during Naruto's fight and Shukaku had been perturbing him ever since. It was causing him to perform acts of striking ruthlessness, in an attempt to appease the creature. Soon he would realize that spilling the blood of the weak would no longer satisfy. His ruthlessness would increase to legendary levels after that.

The fights themselves weren't anything spectacular. They were exactly like every other time someone fought against Gaara. The enemy attacks, fails and get condensed under the force of the jinchuuriki's desert funeral.

The next three teams arrived separately but were similarly and impartially crushed.

By this time, some of the more careful teams had seen Gaara dismantle the opposition and decided that they would have a better chance of victory if they worked together. On the next attack, 9 genin worked together in order to defeat the kazekage's youngest and become chuunin. Two minutes later, the 4 remaining genin displayed their intelligence by activating the emergency scrolls and managed to escape with their lives.

The next attack was also the largest as it consisted of 18 genin. It took 6 minutes for one of them to slip and the kunoichi's team immediately gathered her body, mindful of her shattered leg, and retreated. Gaara watched them go. This battle was pointless, his tenant had set her mark and no matter how much inferior blood he spilled, he knew it would not be enough. This blood would never be able to silence him. If he wasn't careful, he'd be taken in by Shukaku's illusions. He dreaded what would happen if he heard his mother's voice while the beast was so worked up.

With the loss of three genin, the attacker's pressure was greatly diminished and Gaara took that opportunity to continue to chip away at their resources. Sometimes, Gaara had to kill two of the genin for the last one to escape, other times all it took was a severe injury for the entire team to retreat.

In the end, the attack ended with 7 dead, 5 injured and 6 escapes. It took just under an hour for Gaara to kill 24 fully trained genin. When the next team left the safety of the forest to confront her brother, Temari shut her eyes and retreated inside her mind… something she hadn't done in years and something she thought she would never have to do again.

Ignoring her surroundings was always a bad idea, even back in her own village and like many other things, Gaara was to blame. Although the chances of him actually harming her were significantly lower than anyone else's, there was always the chance of getting caught in between him and some foolish assassin.

Trying to escape reality while in hostile territory was the stupidest thing she'd ever done… but she couldn't help but feel like this was necessary. This situation just felt _wrong_ and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

* * *

Teishi, Anko and Naruto were sitting in a tree next to the clearing, using their skills to dwell unnoticed by the genin involved in the skirmish. So far, neither side managed to land a blow, although Lee was fingering his orange leg warmers and Sasuke was beginning to give side-glances to Sakura. Gaara was actually being pressured and had started making more sand. The stalemate wasn't going to last much longer. 

"Now?" whispered the young boy impatiently.

Teishi was asked this question four times. His answer had yet to change. "Not yet. I want them to give this everything they have."

"And what if they fail?" asked the previously silent woman accompanying them. Teishi had previously noted her atypical silence but didn't bother to question her about it. He correctly assumed that her stillness was born out of focus rather than any desire for stealth. Her reaction to his presence was expected and completely typical of high level shinobi. Every jounin and special jounin shinobi knew each other, either by acquaintance or reputation. It was a survival instinct. They watched each other for weaknesses in case one of them went missing-nin.

Naruto and Teishi were both extremely powerful and seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Every shinobi they encountered monitored them and by the end of the chuunin exam, many shinobi will begin to actively investigate them. Teishi knew it and highly anticipated it.

Teishi gave his student a worried look. Naruto probably already knew the answer, but he might react violently if he heard it spoken out loud. Teishi felt it would be better if he answered her question light-heartedly… he couldn't afford a fight with Naruto right now. "Anko-san, I thought you would've understood by now. I want them to fail. I want them to feel completely powerless and I want them to fear that feeling."

Being who she was, she understood immediately. She knew very well whose tactics he borrowed. "You… you want them to crave power. What you're doing… it's just like him." Teishi was quick to rectify her opinion… having her as an enemy would offer no benefits.

"Close, but not really. Orochimaru wouldn't interfere, even if it meant their deaths. I want them to yearn for the power to protect themselves and others. That man would want them to need the power to destroy… it's the only thing he can offer. Orochimaru is a genius and his methods aren't bad… his reasons however are completely corrupt…" His explanation trailed off as he noticed Sakura open a scroll and pull out… "Hmm? Naruto you gave her your sword?"

"Naturally!"

'Chipper bastard.' Was what Teishi thought of the boy whose knack for ruining plans was sincerely starting to frustrate him. Instead of voicing his thoughts and inevitably starting a brawl, he resigned himself to ending the second exam. Having Naruto save them would probably serve the same purpose anyway.

"Well shit. You'd better interfere then… I know he won't bother dodging so she might actually kill him if she uses the special feature."

"Why does that matter?" Naruto's curiosity was the only thing that stopped him from immediately entering the fight.

Teishi'7s answer was short and interlaced with instructions. "I need him alive. If you ever get into a fight with him, make sure you don't kill him."

"I don't know if I can do that."

The boy and his mentor made eye contact and both knew the boy was serious. Naruto would need more information to accept that order. "He's a container, but he's also the Kazekage's son. That boy has a lot of influence and we'll need his leverage soon enough."

Naruto nodded in understanding. The command was accepted. "If you say so. I'm ending this."

Before the child could jump off the wide tree branch they were all crouching on, his tutor made a small request. "Do me a favour and try to reassure his siblings. They look a little overwhelmed."

Naruto took a closer look at the two and neither had moved from their last position. The boy was still standing nervously while keeping his brother directly in his line of sight but he could see the girl had retreated further into herself. "I've been wondering… is he using an aura?"

"Kind of… it's not exactly functional and even if it was, it's far weaker than yours. As it is, it'll only work if they're particularly susceptible to his presence. I doubt anyone other than you and his sister can even feel it."

"…Alright then, I'll see what I can do."

As soon as the hanyou left and the adults found themselves alone, whatever kept Anko silent broke and the questions came swiftly and heatedly.

"What are you trying to do? Why is any of this necessary? What…"

"What's going on right?" Teishi let himself fall before performing a quick somersault and landing lightly on his feet. He took a seat with his back to the trunk and motioned to the woman standing before him. After she sat facing him, he started the discussion. "Why don't you stick around? You might learn something… for a fee, of course."

Anko eyed him warily for a second before asking the obvious question. "…What do you want?"

There was only one thing he wanted from her. And that was everything. "I want you to become one of my agents."

"And what does that involve?" From what little he knew of her personality, the fact that she didn't immediately reject the suggestion meant she was interested. The lack of teasing meant that she was looking for a reason to accept.

"Depends… how far are you willing to go for the truth?"

There was a long silence as she thought about the answer. Her next question was unexpected. "Are you against the village?"

"No." Despite the fact that he hadn't expected her to ask that question, the answer wasn't one that required any thought.

"Who do you work for?"

"My loyalty lies with the best interests of one Uzumaki Naruto."

He saw her eyes widen a fraction, as if the increased intake of light would help her see through him.

"Why?"

His response was immediate. "That's a secret."

"How many secrets do you have?"

"Few that Hokage-sama isn't aware of."

"And what are those?" An odd question, but one he could answer.

"He doesn't know what I'm doing, but he knows why I'm doing it and that's enough for him."

He watched as she bit her lip and let her composure slip a little. He recognized the technique; the display was supposed to create a false sense of security and cause him to weaken his own poker face. Instead of remaining steadfast, he deliberately allowed himself to express small signs that he knew she could detect.

"…Why are you answering my questions?"

"I need your trust."

"…Who works for you?" A loaded question, but relatively harmless at this point.

"I have Momochi Zabuza, Haku and Uchiha's Sasuke assistance. I'm also working with Hokage-sama's cooperation and approval." Of course, she understood that this meant that he had the village's support.

"What about Naruto? And your instructors?"

"The instructors aren't related to my extracurricular activities… and Naruto's an ally, not a subordinate."

"…Why?"

Teishi didn't bother to stop a grin from brightening his face. This was his favourite question. "You'll understand better once he becomes Hokage."

She wasn't quite convinced. "What makes you think he'll do what you ask?"

"I'm not asking him. He's wanted to become the supreme leader for a long while. I'm just helping him." How she didn't know that was beyond him…

"What are you getting in return?"

"Nothing. He's already given it to me."

And the million dollar question… "…Who _are_ you?"

"Truthfully? I'm no one. Don't bother looking for any information regarding me… as far as the world is concerned, I don't exist."

"Does anyone here know who you are?"

"Hokage-sama."

She seemed surprised by that answer. "That's all? What about Naruto?"

Teishi lost all good humour as she hit an unexpectedly sore point. He turned away from her gaze and looked in the tower's direction. "…It was never an issue."

"…Alright. I'll cooperate with you. I assume you know the reason behind Orochimaru's presence?"

Teishi's grin made its triumphant return. "Of course… I won't tell you just yet though."

Anko finally lost the serious air that had surrounded her and grinned thoughtfully. "I suspected as much."

He nodded as he enthusiastically jumped to his feet and headed towards the remaining genin. "Let's go then. I'm tired of this forest."

* * *

'**Alright… tell me again… slowly this time.**

Well, after the freak…

**No, what happened with Gaara?**

Oh. Well, it's not very complicated. I jumped in the clearing before Sakura-chan could run him through and he froze.

**He just stopped moving?**

Yep. He retreated. He moved next to his team-mates and sat down. Spent the rest of the exam staring at me. Man… that was really disappointing.

…**Do you know why?**

Why else? My all-powerful aura silenced the voice of his beast and saved the possessed youth.

**We'd better watch out. **

For what?

**He's not the type to give up. He'll come sooner or later… and if he's really Shukaku's container, then you should've killed him then. From what I can remember, the tanuki lacks reason… but he has one hell of a survival instinct. It probably stopped Gaara because it knew that it would never win as long as we had support. **

…It's no big deal. I can handle him anyway.

**I know, but what if he attacks the compound? We aren't alone anymore Naruto… it's time we acted like it. We're going to have to include them in our plans.**

We already do!

**Really? What about Tazuna? With their skills those mercs shouldn't have been able to lay a hand on him. As soon as we realized that arrow wasn't going to hit us we instinctively put it out of our minds. We're too focused on ourselves… we never learned to work in a team.**

…

**Just think about it. What happened after that?**

…Teishi and Anko ended the second exam. It wasn't time to open the gate yet, but we were the only 5 teams left alive in the forest and we were just sitting there doing nothing. After that we were brought inside and met up with the Hokage and the respective jounin sensei of the surviving teams. The old man told us some long-winded speech about how our battles will be entertainment for potential clients. Basically, our life and death struggles will serve to showcase our village's skills. We have five weeks to heal, get stronger and research the opponents.

**Fifteen genin… I guess someone has an extra match.**

Not fifteen… seven.

**What?**

…Teishi took the others out of the competition. He said the chuunin exam was a test to see if they ready to begin training. They all left. They felt like they weren't ready.

…

You think he was right?

**Probably. Being chuunin would interfere with their training. It's better if they just pass on this one to concentrate on it. After all, we had a whole year with no missions. They should have the opportunity to do the same.**

I guess you're right…

**So, did she do anything weird?**

What do you mean weird? … and I don't know who you're talking about.

**Don't tell me you think I'm going to buy that.**

…Shikamaru and Sasuke told me that she'd behaved abnormally during the exam… but apparently she started acting normally as soon as I got there.

**What did I tell you?**

Shut up. I never said I believed them.

…**Alright. You're going to have to learn the hard way. Watch her carefully.**'

* * *

It was an impulsive and seemingly completely spontaneous act. The whole group was enjoying a succulent supper prepared to celebrate their satisfactory performance in the chuunin exam. The ten students and Anko sat on a large table while the boss, the Hokage, Ibiki, Zabuza, Gunshou and the three instructors conversed quietly on a another table. (Anko had been invited to dine with the adults, but had declined in favour of spending time with Naruto. Teishi raised an eyebrow in response, but kept any comments to himself.) 

Naruto had been in the middle of a loud quarrel that involved Anko, Kiba, Sasuke and an eating contest when he abruptly fell silent. He closed his eyes for a long second before he just as abruptly pushed his chair back, jumped to his feet and headed towards the door.

Of course, Teishi wasn't going to let him just walk out without an explanation. "May I ask where you're going?"

"There's something I need to do." said the boy as he paused in the doorway. Teishi increased the precision of his question.

"Will that something result in the death of a Konoha citizen?"

Naruto tilted his head in a way that usually meant he was trying to elucidate the ambiguous. "I'm not sure… Otu says it's definitely possible, but if it does I assure you he will more than deserve it." In the end, he just shrugged his shoulders and ran out the door.

As soon as Naruto left, his unofficial caretaker turned to the Anbu commander. "Gunshou-san, I'd appreciate it if you could make sure he doesn't get in too much trouble… and I'm afraid normal Anbu won't be able to handle him."

Once the Hokage offered his approval, Gunshou nodded in agreement and left.

Two minutes later, Naruto's table sported four extra empty seats.

* * *

The anger was coiling around his body, taking hold of muscles and slowly moving him towards action… in that moment, he was as though violence incarnate. It was intoxicating. He was perfect. Final in his anger, complete in his kindness… he was perfect. She wanted him, more than anything in the world. 

Unexpectedly, the anger he displayed disappeared and in its place was an unnatural calm. Hinata knew the signs better than anyone; his anger was only barely held back… Naruto had a plan and anger would only get in his way. The plan's failure would destroy the dam and his fury would become unstoppable.

"Hinata-chan, Sasuke. Come here a second."

Suddenly, it all came back to her. The situation…

She was standing in the living room of an apartment in the bad side of Konoha. She knew this building very well since it was… used to be Naruto's. Apparently, his connection to the small residence made him somewhat receptive to any strong feelings of anyone between its walls. The strong feelings of fear, horror and an undecipherable emotion he received during supper had given him a strong urge to investigate.

She knew he understood what he would see long before he set foot inside the room, but he had refused to accept it before he was forced to. It was foolish, but she knew he didn't care.

In truth, she didn't either.

Gunshou-san watched over the man responsible for the tragedy though he needn't have bothered. The scoundrel was huddled in a corner in as tight a ball as he could manage, probably hoping to escape Naruto's detection. After what he had done, he would've been better off jumping face first off the balcony.

The man was short, achingly thin and had neglected to shave… and bathe for some time. His black hair, black eyes and unremarkable features only helped increase her doubt. How could such a dreadful man have helped birth such a beautiful little girl?

The girl lying on the apartment's only bed was the poster child for the word endearing. Her waist-level lilac hair framed a cherubic face and her petite body was clothed in white pyjamas adorned with pictures of fuzzy animals. The sight would've brought a contented smile to any observer, if it wasn't for the paleness of her skin, her unnatural stillness and the evidence of great force exposed on her small neck.

When Sakura had asked the man, with great tears falling from her celadon orbs, how he could've done such a thing, he had told her it wasn't his fault. In his opinion, she was to blame. It seems the girl heavily favoured her mother in both looks and character and that single fact was apparently enough to warrant her death.

Once his pathetic reasoning became known, sadness was rapidly shifted into fury. Anko and Sasuke simultaneously moved towards him and would've vented those feelings on his body if Gunshou hadn't stopped them. He wasn't a member of the police force, but as Anbu commander it was also his duty to make sure that the ninja obeyed the laws. As the criminal wasn't a shinobi, he was innocent until proven guilty in the court of law.

The man's mouth opened and more garbage escaped his vocal chords. He was reaffirming his innocence when Naruto used his aura to make sure he would never have to hear him speak again. The man immediately stopped talking, stopped moving, stopped breathing until Naruto decided to reduce the effects of his hatred. Once the boy was otherwise occupied, the insane murderer retreated to the corner and ceased all action.

That chain of events led her to her current situation, standing next to Sasuke with one of Naruto's warm hands resting in the middle of her back.

"I'm going to give you a small amount of chakra each. You'll probably be overwhelmed for a while, but it'll pass. Once it does, I want you to focus the chakra I give you into your eyes and activate your respective bloodlines. You'll see something that doesn't belong and I want you to tell me where it is. We don't have much time, are you ready?"

They'd barely had the time to nod before he used their close physical connection to establish a temporary contract. Immediately, her eyelids retreated to their minimum size and her mouth opened as if to let out a horrifying scream but instead let out a throaty moan as her whole body shivered. Coming from a twelve year old, it was equally if not more disturbing. At her side, Sasuke shut his eyes and struggled to accept the additional energy.

"Are you guys okay?" Hinata's lips split as she attempted to answer Sakura's question but she gave up midway and merely nodded. How could she possibly explain using mere words? She had accidentally siphoned energy from Naruto before, but it was never very much and it had never been like this. Before, she had only been able to feel his presence around her; now she could now feel his very essence through her blood, down to her bones. It was, bar nothing, the best feeling she had ever experienced.

Unlike her, Sasuke seemed to enjoy it far less. It certainly explained why he was capable of speech. "Y-Yeah… it's just… how do you do it Naruto?"

"It's harder for you because you're not relaxed, you're resisting me. Since it's my chakra, it still contains a trace amount of my will. Basically, what that means is that you'll never be able to completely control it and that if I try hard enough, I could theoretically control your body against your will. Theoretically anyways. On the other hand, Hinata-chan's having a much easier time because she's not resisting me at all… which is really, really odd. Even people who trust me implicitly and are entirely used to it should at least offer minute resistance… but I guess that's not important right now. I need you guys to activate your bloodlines."

It was with great reluctance that she formed a handseal and activated her byakugan. She wanted to finish her task quickly so she wouldn't have to waste much of Naruto's chakra. A quick scan of the room revealed nothing other than furniture and the others… until her she started staring at a spot next to the dead child.

It was strange… there seemed to be nothing but empty space in that location but still, something compelled her not to look away. Soon enough, the air became slightly hazy and as soon as she increased her focus, the lucent image became distinct. A giant being clothed in a flowing white robe was kneeling next to the bed. It was a demon with purplish skin, gruesome features, sharp horns the color of blood on top of a great white mane and a dark tongue cradled by sharp teeth. It carried a dark red beaded necklace and a single edged knife in one hand. The other held a bluish luminous humanoid mass that peculiarly resembled the little girl, considering it had no features.

Sasuke was standing rigidly with a cold sweat coating his body. Hinata didn't understand his reaction. Naruto would never allow it to harm them and he never would've asked them to do something truly dangerous.

"Naruto…" The boy in question was obviously expecting Sasuke's question and didn't waste a second answering it.

"If you're seeing what I want you to see, then you're seeing the god of death… or one of its many, many familiars. More importantly, is he holding anything?"

"Yes he is, Naruto-kun. He is still holding the little girl's soul. It looks like he's saying something, but I can't hear him." Naruto nodded to her and politely asked them to indicate its location. Once he got a good idea of where it was and how it was positioned, he picked up his sword and swung through it.

"Um… Naruto-kun…"

"No effect, huh? Alright then, let's try this."

Naruto transformed his nails into sharp claws and a few seconds later, the sword released red vapour. When the entire blade was covered, its owner grabbed its hilt with both hands. The shinigami unexpectedly stopped and quickly turned to face Naruto, but it was too late. Naruto was too fast and the blade separated its torso from its body. For a split second, its injured form became completely solid before it disappeared. From the oppressive silence that followed, she guessed that everyone had seen it.

"Naruto… did you just… kill the god of death?" For someone as frivolous as she usually was, Anko-san was doing a wondrous job keeping her composure.

"No, he's not that easy to kill. All he really has to do is reattach his parts and that shouldn't take too long. At best, it'll teach him to pay attention to his surroundings… I am surprised he actually bothered to show up, though. This girl must have a special soul." Naruto shrugged and paid more attention to the girl on the bed, in the process ignoring his shell-shocked companions.

"Uzumaki-san… if I may ask… what was the shinigami doing? And more importantly, what are you doing?"

Although he didn't look up from his examination of the girl's throat, it didn't stop him from replying. "Gunshou-san, I cannot tell you what the shinigami was doing because I could not see him… but if I had to guess, he was probably judging the girl's soul. If she was a good person, he would've sent her to whatever's after death… and if she was a bad person, he would've eaten her. I assure you, that is quite a horrible fate. You'll understand once I tell you that his stomach is what we know as hell.

"As for what I'm doing… I couldn't say. I'm basically operating on instinct. All I really know is that I'm not actually ready, my chakra control is bad enough that I shouldn't even think about doing this."

"Then why are you doing it?" Personally, Hinata wanted to strike him for being so ignorant and condescending. However, instead of teaching him some respect like she wanted him to, Naruto merely smiled.

"You know, technically we could bring her to the hospital and she could be reanimated, she has her soul and her body's still in working order… but she's been dead for a while now. Even if they wake her up; her brain's been oxygen deprived for over ten minutes, brain damage is inevitable and it can't be healed by normal means. This is the only way. She won't be the way she was before, but she'll be alive. That's all I can do.

"Now, I have to warn you about something. My chakra control is pretty bad… so they'll be a whole lot of chakra wasted around me. Gunshou-san… can you perform containment barrier jutsu?"

"Not alone."

"Then Anko can help you. Take everyone outside and seal this room."

"Why should I do that?"

"Because I'm about to spend my entire supply of chakra in a few minutes. Even if the shinobi are able to handle it, the civilians won't. They'll get swallowed up and some of them won't be able to recover… I'll make things clearer, so you can understand. With my current chakra control, I waste around 91 units of chakra out of a hundred with every technique I use. The wasted chakra units will mix with my aura so there won't be any physical effects, but that won't help now.

"To make this work, I need to use about 15 percent of my total chakra and since I don't have the control to deliver that, I'm going to have to do something and when I do it I won't have control over my aura anymore and the fact that my aura will have absorbed so much chakra means that it'll expand and pretty much affect anything on the continent. What I need you guys to do it completely separate this room from the outside world for five minutes. That's all I ask."

"You're sure this is a good idea?"

Naruto couldn't help but show his habitual expression at that question. The smile he used to disarm and create a sense of security. He began to speak with a cheer that was totally unbefitting of his words. "Of course it isn't. But it's the best one I have… and before you say anything, you should know I'll do it whether you help me or not and…"

"You won't hold back if I get in your way? I don't take kindly to threats… but I don't have much to gain by opposing you, so I guess I'll help you. Don't make a habit of this. It's bad form to threaten comrades."

Naruto's sly smile remained unaffected by the man's interruption and the boy showed no signs of being affected by his obvious discontent. Even Hinata's byakugan failed to detect even a subtle change. "Good. You two have five minutes to set up the barrier and if you can, make sure this asshole," said the boy before pointing to the man still huddling in the corner, "has a session with Ibiki. I want to know everything he knows about her and her lineage."

Before anyone could stop her, Anko dashed to the corner of the room and introduced her thick sandal with the back of the dirty man's head. The unexpected strike knocked the man's face into the wall, broke his nose and rendered him unconscious. She let out a satisfied sigh before she grabbed his foot and started to drag him outside. Gunshou hurriedly followed after her to make sure she didn't drag him down the stairs.

Once they were gone, Naruto fox-smile disappeared as he exhaled a world-weary sigh. He took a seat on the bed's reasonably clean sheets and began to massage his eyeballs, his tail lying limply beside the girl.

He spoke to them… almost as an afterthought, but not really because Naruto would never forget them… his voice low and hoarse and painful. "You three go home. There's nothing more you can do here."

That was unacceptable. He was hurting and there was no way Hinata could let that go on in good conscience. There had to be something she could do. "Um… Naruto-kun…" Unfortunately, focusing Naruto's attention on her wasn't a good idea.

The fingers of his right hand separated to reveal his sparkling blue eye, focused entirely on her. She found herself unable to move as her searched her for some unknown mark. The moment passed and she felt her ability to act return, but didn't bother to do so. There was nothing she wanted to hide from him.

A few heartbeats later, his azure orb was hidden from view. Naruto always had the bad habit of looking away whenever he was about to talk about something he would rather avoid. "So Shikamaru really wasn't kidding…" said the boy as he before he uncovered his eyes and stared ahead, eyes unfocused. "Tell me something Hinata-chan. When did it start? You must've done it when I sparring with Teishi but the timing of our spars was entirely random and they mostly took place late at night… and it must've been more often than that one time I actually detected you. So that means you were watching us. You must've felt it happening… why did you let it change you?"

"I…" She hesitated before she submitted herself to his judgement. For an instant, she hoped that he wouldn't force her to leave. During her stay with the unit, she had seen many things that cultivated her understanding of the unit's rank system. She knew that Naruto had more influence than even the instructors and so she doubted she would stay long if he didn't want her there. She also believed that Sasuke knew more than he let on but never attempted to question him about it. Her interest lied with Naruto and him alone.

The motive sent to the boy was delivered on the steadiest tone she possessed. Above all, he had to know how serious she was. "I wanted to change myself. I wanted to be strong."

"I see…" said the hanyou as he closed his eyes and searched for an answer. But there was truly little he could do at the moment. Any problem solving would have to take place at a later date. He spoke to her, disappointment tainting his words and striking her to her core. "Hinata-chan, if you let me change you too much then there's a possibility that you'll gain supreme vitality. But listen to me on this point if none other… immortality without power is just eternal suffering. If I had known it was this serious, I wouldn't have let it get this far. You should never allow others to change you Hinata-chan. If you really have to change, you must change yourself.

"If you want to stay with us then you'll have to promise me that you won't allow it to happen…"

"I promise."

"Hinata." Naruto obviously saw her hurried promise as a sign of thoughtlessness.

"I'm serious. I never wanted to make you mad." reaffirmed Hinata.

"…I'm not. Not really. I just wish you hadn't gone behind my back." He was upset. That was a lot worse than if he'd been mad.

Naruto looked away from her dejected countenance and nodded to the others. It was time for them to go. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a loaded look.

_We'll talk later._

Sasuke nodded and left the room followed by a disheartened Hinata. He watched them go before turning to face the only other person remaining in the room. Sakura face was strangely grave as she held his attention by her mere presence. He could see the dried up tears staining her cheeks and couldn't help thinking that she had been exposed to far too much death recently. Gaara's massacre had left its mark on her and he knew that it would mark her nightmares for months… Removing them from the exams was a good idea. Not even Sasuke was ready to face a shinobi of Gaara's calibre… and then there was Orochimaru… so many powerful enemies appeared simultaneously. It wasn't likely to be over yet.

"Naruto?" She spoke his name softly, barely above a whisper but it was more than enough to get his attention.

"Hmm?"

"That something you said you would have to do… Is it dangerous?" He had hoped they would have forgotten.

_Yes._ "Nope."

A word was hissed with utmost conviction. "Liar."

A question was voiced with true curiosity. "How'd you know?"

One look at her face told him that taking this lightly was a mistake. He dropped the smile that had unconsciously appeared and attempted to sweet-talk his way out of it.

"Sakura-chan, it's no problem… really. Even if I fail, I'll just fall into a deep sleep."

Unfortunately for him, Sakura wasn't stupid or blinded by his abilities.

"What happens if you get attacked and you can't wake up? What if the death god comes back?"

Faced with failure, he did the only thing he had yet to try. He pouted and began to complain. "…You're sure not making this easy."

"Naruto!" She was dangerously close to the point where she would usually knock him around and storm off. At this point, he could either drive another wedge between them or he could actually try being honest. Making a decision, he focused on a lamp and answered her question.

"He'll probably try to eat my soul… but I can't emphasize the word try enough. I'll be fine."

There was silence for a while, long enough that he started to believe he had gotten through to her. Of course, he was wrong.

"Do you promise?" His eyes widened and snapped to her. He hadn't expected that.

"Sakura-chan… that's not fair."

She stood straight and unwavering as she responded. "I'm not trying to be."

He couldn't. She didn't understand. If he made that promise and he actually got into some serious trouble, he would lose any hope of victory. His own power would betray him. "I'll do my best… but I can't promise you."

"Why not?"

Naruto didn't understand. Why was she doing this? His composure started to unravel as he began to become emotionally involved. "Why do you have to make this so hard? Why do you care?"

"What do you mean why do I care? You're my friend!" said the girl angrily.

He crossed his arms, unaffected by her anger and questioned her. "If that's true then why aren't we on speaking terms?"

"Because you never say anything and you keep avoiding me… all of us. You've really kept your distance for a while now. Why is that?" In one breath she had managed to shift the blame on him and ask a question that would only increase his responsibility. He knew he wasn't totally to blame for their recent rift in their friendship, but decided to ignore it in favour of continuing said friendship.

He answered her question with the obvious answer. "You weren't ready to accept me."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Ever since wave country, you haven't really been comfortable around me. I thought I'd give you all time to sort yourselves out."

She looked at him strangely, almost as if she thought he wasn't telling the truth. Eventually the look disappeared and was replaced by the one that meant she thought he was an idiot. "You're telling me that avoiding us and acting differently is your idea of fixing the problem?"

If she said it like that, of course he'd look like an idiot. "Uh… well, yes… It worked with Kiba and Shikamaru… maybe even Shino."

Sakura could only shake her head in disbelief. "Naruto… you're such an idiot… when you come back, will you let me help you with that?"

He grinned at her, glad beyond measure that she'd dropped their previous topic. "Heh… now that I can promise."

She smiled back and finally began to follow after the other two. He only had to wait a few seconds before he felt Gunshou's barrier surround the room. Once he was sure that the barrier was as strong as it was going to get, he gently raised the girl's pyjama shirt until her stomach was exposed.

'Let's do this.

**We'll convert part of our aura into chakra. Our lack of control means that there'll be heavy damage to our tenketsu and if we lack chakra then there'll be no recovery. With our current chakra control, we'll need to recover 70 units of chakra if we're to succeed. If we aren't careful we'll fall into a coma. Needless to say, that'll mean failure.**

How should we do this?

**We have two options. The first is to convert it as we use it. It'll be less damaging on our body, but if we increase the procedure's length there might have some side-effects on the girl. Probability of success is around 65 percent. The operation will last over three minutes.**

The other choice?

**We convert it all as soon as we're out of chakra. It'll take 10 seconds but the damage to our body will be extreme. The probability of success will increase to 99 percent. The operation will be over in less than forty seconds.**

Second option it is. All I have to do is bond her soul to her body and transfer a constant stream of chakra. The rest will be done automatically.

**Right, but don't forget that you can't let up for a second. You have to transfer at least one percent of our total chakra into her body per 2.5 seconds. That means we have to burn through around eleven percent in 2.5 seconds. That's easier said than done.**

Just make sure you do your part. I'll handle and regulate it, you mold it.'

He lightly pressed his palm against her frigid skin and let instinct take over.

* * *


End file.
